Sean Fraser

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I had an opportunity to visit my hon. colleague's community, where she graciously hosted me to meet with certain stakeholders there. She is a fierce advocate for more housing in Canada's north.

In addition to some of the programs that will operate through non-profits or directly support rights holders who represent distinctions-based communities in Canada's north and across the country, there are opportunities to work directly with provincial and territorial governments as well. I would point to the Canada builds program as an example, where we are seeking to enter bilateral agreements directly to finance housing that will be offered in rental markets. There are further opportunities to enter bilateral agreements to put forward the housing-enabling infrastructure and, of course, through the announcement that we made jointly in Nunavut with respect to the housing accelerator fund, there can be local communities that can partner with provincial governments to advance their shared goals.

There is not a single throughput for the federal government to co-operate with the territorial government in Nunavut, but there are a range of programs that create opportunities to work directly with housing providers and with different levels of government, including the territorial government in her constituency.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, one thing that the hon. member and I have in common is that we both come from communities that have seen devastating impacts from severe weather events. That is part of the reason that we need to do everything we can from both a mitigation and an adaptation point of view; we need to ensure that we are there for communities that been impacted.

With respect to the disaster financial assistance arrangement, I expect the hon. member is well aware that it operates in the form of a reimbursement to cover some of the costs that were incurred and covered initially by provincial governments.

With respect to the specific application that may be before departments, I am happy to do an inquiry to figure out the current status of any applications when it comes to disaster mitigation and adaptation, to ensure that we keep those trade corridors flowing. I do not have the specific details on the unique project the member has just raised before me. I would be happy to take part in a follow-up conversation to chase down the information he is looking for.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague led off by pointing out that the fall economic statement feels like a very long time ago, hence the need to move forward with time allocation to actually implement the measures included in the fall economic statement now that we are into the following spring. He mentioned the home ownership prices and the rental challenges a lot of families are having in his community. We know that these circumstances are very challenging in regions right across the entire country.

The reality is that, when we look at the plan the Conservatives are putting forward, they do not have a single measure that is designed to help actually build more homes. They want to raise taxes when it comes to the GST on apartment construction. They have no measures in their housing plan that are designed to help more people get into homes. The member talks about homes for members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and I would actually point him to the recent plan put forward by the Minister of National Defence, who has included specific, short-term budgeting opportunities to build more homes for the men and women who wear the uniform.

It is essential that we look at all the different opportunities to advance measures to build more homes. I am disappointed that the Conservative plan provides precisely zero.

[Carbon Pricing, May 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague is concerned about tax increases, I suggest he talk to the leader of his own party, who is proposing to increase taxes on new apartment construction by putting the GST back on apartment rentals in this country. The Conservatives' plan is to raise taxes on home construction. Their plan is to cut funding for the communities that are going to build homes. Their leader has actively promised in the media that he views the role of government as being to not participate in housing.

On our side of the House, we are going to make the investments necessary to solve the housing crisis. I hope the Conservatives will join us.

[Housing, May 7th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party is using the most vulnerable people as political pawns. It is unacceptable.

The truth is that we are building 150,000 affordable housing units under the national housing strategy. In contrast, when the Conservative leader was minister responsible for housing, only six affordable housing units were built across the country. That is unacceptable. We are making investments to build affordable housing, in Quebec and all across the country.

[Housing, May 7th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to accept criticisms from the Conservative Party when it comes to housing, when both its record and its plan demonstrate it has no interest in solving the housing crisis.

Its members are now campaigning on a commitment to cut funding for the programs that actually support home construction. They are campaigning on a commitment to raise taxes on new apartment construction that is going to help make sure apartments are available at prices people can actually afford. If we look at the record of the Conservative leader while he had the responsibility for the housing portfolio, we see that he got a total of six affordable housing units built across the entire country.

[Housing, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if the member thinks there is a housing problem in Quebec, why did he oppose the program to support the construction of housing in Quebec?

One, two, three, four, five, six. Six is the total number of affordable housing units built with the support of the federal government when the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister responsible for housing.

We are making investments to build affordable housing across the country, including in Quebec. I am having conversations with my counterpart to continue our collaboration and, at the same time, we are making investments to build affordable housing.

[Housing, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the situation is difficult for renters and those who do not have any housing solutions.

That is why the government is holding discussions and negotiations to reach an agreement with Quebec to build affordable housing. With the money from the federal government, Quebec will be able to build up to 8,000 affordable housing units.

The Conservative Party's position is to oppose that. That is not good.

We are working with our colleagues in Quebec to build affordable housing.

[Grocery Industry, May 2nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as I give this answer, the Conservatives jeer because they do not support the measures that would help vulnerable people in this country. We will stand up for the middle class. We will stand up for the vulnerable. It is a shame the Conservatives will not join us.

[Grocery Industry, May 2nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in the recent federal budget, we put forward a plan to establish fairness for every generation that would ask the wealthiest to pay a little more so we can fund the things that really matter to the people who have been struggling the last couple of years.

We have plans that would reduce the cost of living by reducing the cost of housing and solving the housing crisis. We have a plan to launch a national school food program to make sure that hungry kids have food on the table.