Wayne Long

[The Budget, April 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to stand today to talk about hockey and certainly the Saint John Sea Dogs hockey team that is blowing through the first round of the playoff series and on to the second round in chase of another Memorial Cup for the organization.

To answer my friend and colleague's question, investment over the past 10 years in infrastructure, in particular, before we were elected, was at a deficit. We saw it in Saint John—Rothesay. We saw a lack of investment in a lot of our critical infrastructure. That was investment that needed to be done.

I stand behind our finance minister. He is doing a fantastic job. He has a vision for our future, a vision for our country, and I have absolutely no problem justifying how we are moving forward.

[The Budget, April 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, let me say how thrilled and pleased I am to stand here in the House and speak to budget 2017. It is a budget that gives much hope and promise for middle-class Canadians.

Let me digress and go back to when I started to run in the past election and started going door to door in communities, going from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. I started in one of our priority neighbourhoods, Crescent Valley. The work that is being done in Crescent Valley is absolutely magnificent. The Crescent Valley association, led by Anne Driscoll, is doing a fantastic job.

One thing that was loud and clear to me going door to door in Crescent Valley was that the housing needed upgrading and rebuilding and in many instances a total overhaul. The families were and are living in conditions that certainly needed to be upgraded. There were many people who talked to me about their current situations. I went back and talked to non-profit organizations in Saint John and surrounding areas, and there was concern that a lot of the operating agreements with the housing co-ops were expiring and there was uncertainty in the future.

First and foremost with respect to housing, I want to commend and compliment people in my riding and in my region who are doing outstanding work on housing and helping those who need affordable housing to attain it. They include people like Kit Hickey, Randy Hatfield, Narinder Singh, Brian Marks, and many others who are working tirelessly every day to help those who are looking for housing in my riding.

I am not proud to stand here today and talk about the fact that there are 1,300 people from my riding on a wait-list for affordable housing. That is not acceptable, so I am absolutely delighted to speak in support of budget 2017. I am excited about the commitment of $11.2 billion for a national housing strategy for our country. This is something that I advocated for and something we have worked tirelessly toward. I am a proud member of the HUMA committee, which has just finished travelling from coast to coast to coast. Certainly one thing that was very evident travelling across this country was the need for affordable housing, and the fact that as a country we need a national housing strategy.

Our government signalled its intention to re-establish a federal leadership role in housing in budget 2016. As hon. members will recall, in addition to the existing baseline annual funding of over $2 billion, our first budget included funding of $2.3 billion over two years to address urgent housing needs across this country. This included a doubling of the investment in affordable housing, as well as targeted funding to improve housing for seniors and low-income households, northerners, indigenous people, and those fleeing situations of domestic violence. I am proud to say that this funding has already benefited more than 58,000 households across Canada. That is significant and transformational.

Budget 2016 also provided funding for low-cost loans and new financing tools to encourage municipalities, housing developers, and non-profit housing providers to develop more affordable rental housing units. This funding will significantly expand the stock of affordable rental housing in Canada.

I want to mention that I will be splitting my time with the member for Brampton South.

We made it clear a year ago that these investments were only a first step as we took the time needed to develop a new, inclusive national housing strategy to help guide the way forward.

Budget 2017, I am thrilled to say, affirms this. Let me be clear. This is the largest single spending commitment in our budget. It is historic, and it will be transformational for many, many families across our country.

To be formally launched later this year, the national housing strategy would provide a road map for governments and housing providers across the country, as well as focused support for those who need it the most, those living in poverty.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be meeting with provinces and territories, housing stakeholders, and indigenous leaders to discuss how we can best work together to ensure a coordinated and truly national strategy. This is key and is of utmost importance.

The strategy would be delivered by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation through a number of initiatives, which I would like to highlight for hon. members. Let me begin with our commitment to a renewed housing partnership with the provinces and territories.

Our government recognizes that housing needs vary across the country, and we are committed to working with provinces and territories to ensure that the unique needs of all communities are met. These priorities may include the construction of new affordable housing units, the renovation and repair of existing housing, rent subsidies and other measures to make housing more affordable, and initiatives to support safe independent living for seniors and persons with disabilities.

The national housing strategy would also include a new housing fund to address critical housing issues and prioritize support for vulnerable citizens, including seniors, indigenous peoples, victims of domestic violence, persons with disabilities, those dealing with mental health and addiction issues, and veterans. Administered by CMHC, the fund would receive $5 billion in federal funding over the next 11 years. It signals the government's renewed role, finally, in a housing policy for our country. Further details will be announced when the national housing strategy is launched later this year, but it includes a new co-investment fund to encourage greater collaboration and investment among diverse partners to prioritize large-scale community renewal projects.

It would also support innovative approaches to housing development and a strong, sustainable affordable housing sector. CMHC' s direct lending activities would be expanded to include low-cost loans for renewal of social and affordable housing. This is in addition to the budget 2016 lending program I mentioned earlier, which will support construction of new rental units.

In addition to these new investments of $11.2 billion, the government is also preserving baseline funding related to the expiry of long-term social housing operating agreements. The use and renewal of these funds will be determined over the next year.

Hon. members who represent northern ridings will know that the housing challenges in that region are unique and complex. Budget 2017 proposes to invest $300 million, starting in 2018-19, to provide stable and predictable funding to the territorial governments, to help offset the higher cost of construction, and improve housing conditions across the north.

Budget 2017 also includes an additional $4 billion over 10 years, starting in 2018-19, to build and improve housing, water treatment systems, health facilities, and other community infrastructure in indigenous communities. This builds on the $554 million provided in last year's budget to address urgent housing needs on reserve and the more than $10 million we are investing in new shelters for first nations families affected by domestic violence. We will be working with first nations, Inuit, and Métis partners in the coming months to determine how the budget 2017 funding will be allocated.

Finally, budget 2017 includes a proposed investment of $241 million through the national housing strategy to help CMHC improve housing data collection and analytics, expand housing research, and strengthen our ability to make informed policy decisions. Long-term funding would also be provided to Statistics Canada to develop and implement a new housing statistics framework.

I have talked primarily about the proposed investments in budget 2017 that relate specifically to the national housing strategy. It is key and critical for my riding to have this national housing strategy. I was proud to travel the country from coast to coast to coast to help in implementing this. I am proud to stand today and say that our government is actually backing a national housing strategy which will be good for all Canadians.

[Housing, March 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, our government was elected on a strong commitment to re-engage the federal government in affordable housing. Last year, we made significant investments in affordable housing, and this week, budget 2017 announced a national housing strategy, which received praise nationally and by many stakeholders in Saint John—Rothesay, my riding.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development inform the House of the benefits of this strategy for Canadians?

[Sandwich Program, March 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we have not lived today until we have done something for someone who can never repay us.

I was elected by the great people of Saint John—Rothesay to represent, advocate, and bring important priorities forward. We are a city of great business success, but also a city with many in great need. We lead the country in child poverty. We have 1,300 families on a waiting list for affordable housing, and many who are homeless and need a helping hand.

We have started a sandwich program for the hungry at our constituency office, and the response has been uplifting. We have families, seniors, and many others who are hungry drop by on a daily basis. My office is their office too.

One of the greatest things we can all do as MPs is to give hope and a hand up to people who need it the most. I am proud to have started this initiative, and I encourage all my colleagues to do the same across the country.

[Homelessness, February 22nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are sobering. There are 35,000 people in our country who will be homeless tonight. There are 235,000 people who will experience homelessness this year. Our shelters are full, and are at capacity across the country.

For older adults and families, the stay is now as long as 20 days. One in four homeless are older adults or seniors, one in four homeless are women, and one in five homeless are youth.

My office has started a breakfast program to offer a warm meal every Saturday to those on the street, but we need to do so much more.

We will walk this Saturday, February 25, for the coldest night of the year, a walk to support those who are hurting, who have no hope, and feel helpless.

We will walk to support our Outflow shelter in Saint John—Rothesay, and the daunting task it faces to shelter homeless with little help. We will be walking and giving our support. It is the least we can do.

[Housing, February 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, homelessness is a terrible, preventable situation lived by too many Canadians. I was proud to see our government increasing the homeless partnering strategy funding by $111.8 million.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development (Housing and Urban Affairs) give us an update on our government's work on this very important file?

[Business of Supply, February 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member across for his speech and his version of economics. Again we hear how the Conservative Party is such a great steward of the economy, a party that had recession after recession that left us in a deficit situation.

I have a question for the member opposite. I have asked this question many times, and no one on the opposite side can answer this question. The member opposite again brought up the beloved tax-free savings accounts, and how the Conservatives wanted to double them. However, 93% of Canadians, and this is a fact, had no benefit of the doubling of the tax-free savings accounts.

Why double the tax-free savings account when only 7% of Canadians could benefit from that doubling?

[Early Learning, December 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today, I want to address a topic on which we should all be able to agree, and that is child literacy.

I am proud to be an advocate in the effort to tackle poverty. I am proud to be a part of a government helping families in need, with transformational measures like the new Canada child benefit. However, some areas require more. We need a plan, not to alleviate but to end poverty in Canada. A national early learning strategy is key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

We are developing an early learning prototype in Saint John—Rothesay. We propose to pilot and measure a program in three early learning centres in three priority neighbourhoods in my riding. I know that alongside Elementary Literacy New Brunswick's, Dr. Erin Schryer, the YMCA's Shilo Boucher, Dr. Rob Moir from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, and our provincial partners, we will develop a model that can be rolled out across the country.

I do not want Saint John to be known as the city with the highest child poverty. I want Saint John to be known as the city that solved its poverty problem and became a model for the nation.

[Canada Pension Plan, November 29th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, in my riding of Saint John—Rothesay, people who come into my constituency office are very happy and proud that our government has the foresight to make changes to the Canada pension plan, adjustments that will help people save and will protect retirement savings in the future.

I am surprised that all the party opposite can offer is the tax-free savings account, and that this is a vehicle for savings for seniors. I challenge the party opposite to go to a priority neighbourhood and ask seniors how many of them are saving for the future through a tax-free savings account. The answer is really none.

The party opposite's answer was to actually double the tax-free savings account, double something that only 6.7% of Canadians actually maximized, which is mind-boggling to me.

People in my riding are very happy with the upcoming amendments to the CPP. What response is the member getting from constituents in his riding?

[Canada Pension Plan, November 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague just gave an excellent speech about the CPP and the Liberal government making changes.

In my riding, I have constituent after constituent coming into my office to thank me and thank our Liberal government for the foresight of the changes we are making to CPP. They thank us because we are making the necessary changes that are going to ensure people in the future have a safe and fair retirement. It will lift people out of poverty.

Does my colleague also have constituents and many members in his riding complimenting him on the great changes our Liberal government is making on the CPP?