Housing  One day they talk about affordable housing, but it is not in their opposition motion or their Conservative party platform. They talk about first-time homebuyers, but they voted against that. They talk about the first-time homebuyer incentive program, but they speak down about it all the time.

Housing  The hon. member for Calgary Centre spoke about his opposition to the measure to put a tax on foreign and non-resident homebuyers, and just recently the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon tried to table the Conservative platform in the House, which did not contain the words “affordable housing”.

Housing  That is what the Conservatives believe, and Canadians can see that.

Housing  Speaker, we agree on the importance of enabling more Canadians than ever before to access the dream of home ownership. That is why we introduced the first-time homebuyer incentive, but the Conservatives voted against it. As recently as last week, the Conservative member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry said that we should stop helping first-time homebuyers. Maybe she needs to talk the member.

Housing  The Conservatives voted against the Canada housing benefit and, as recently as last week, a number of members on that side of the House called for us to pull back from the national housing strategy.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. Who is not serious about housing affordability? That party is not serious about housing affordability. They voted against the foreign vacancy tax. They voted against the first-time homebuyer incentive.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party in the House faces a leadership problem. It does not even have the term “affordable housing” in its plans. The Conservatives vote against every measure that comes before the House to enable Canadians to access homes.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation  Every single time that we have brought more federal investments to the table, the member opposite has voted against them. The Conservatives are not serious about affordable housing. How do I know that? Their opposition day motion did not have the words “affordable housing” in it. Their election platform did not have “affordable housing” in it.

Housing  We have moved to implement a 1% tax on non-resident and non-Canadian-owned real estate, and the Conservatives voted against it.

Housing  Speaker, every time we have brought a measure into the House to help Canadians through programs like the Canada housing benefit to help people with rent, the first-time homebuyer incentive, the rapid housing initiative and many other housing programs as part of the national housing strategy, every single time the Conservatives have voted against those measures, yet they stand here today pretending to care about affordable housing solutions for Canadians. We can see through their rhetoric. We will continue to work to make sure that we build on our record investments in housing and continue to make sure the national housing strategy succeeds for Canadians.

Human Resources committee  Its initial target was to build around 7,500 new affordable and permanent housing units. We far exceeded that, and now we're on track to build 10,250 affordable housing units in record time, from 12 to 18 months. Some of them will be in even less time. I've seen projects that went through the first round that already have people living in them and were built in four to eight months.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to put our record on affordable housing against the Conservatives' record any day. They spent $250 million a year for every year they were in office on affordable housing. In contrast, we have invested over $27 billion as part of the national housing strategy.

Housing  The hon. member mentioned the co-op sector. We are the government that saved the co-op sector, after it was abandoned by the Conservatives, to the tune of $318 million, which would guarantee subsidies for a long time for the most vulnerable members of the community.

Housing  Speaker, in our six years in office, for every year that we have been in power, we have spent $4.5 billion investing and providing more housing for Canadians. What is the Conservative record? It is $250 million a year. Second, when we brought in the Canada housing benefit to put money directly into the pockets of Canadians so they could pay their rent, Conservatives voted against it.

Housing  Speaker, here are the facts: In our six years of being in government, we have spent $4.5 billion a year to build more housing in this country for Canadians. The Conservative record is $250 million a year. Those are the facts—