Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the upcoming 80th birthday of James Ross Hurley, the founding director of the Parliamentary Internship Programme. In 1969, Mr. Hurley, a young academic at the University of Ottawa, worked with the Canadian Political Science Association and the late Alfred Hales, MP for Wellington, to develop a new program that would allow recent university graduates to serve …
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Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting one petition on behalf of the constituents of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. The petitioners outline that every two hours there is a death from opioids in Canada. The opioid crisis is out of control. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to take steps to end the overdose deaths and injuries, provide supports for recovery and play a larger role in fun…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, let us start from the top. Last week, the new head of CMHC, Romy Bowers, said that the government's national housing strategy would not be enough to address affordability because the government had done nothing to engage the private sector in the construction of affordable housing and housing for middle-class Canadians, which the government purports to support. Romy Bowers said that…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the other day I raised a question in Parliament based off an article from The Hamilton Spectator. I asked, “What is happening in our country?” The Liberals' first-time home buyers plan is not doing enough to address the high cost of housing. I asked what the government was doing to actually address the craziness of the Canadian housing market. What I am looking for are some basic an…
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Mr. Speaker, those are actually reasonable requests. As I previously mentioned, we need to fund any investigative work taking place at former residential schools. The Government of Canada should be paying for that. Again, at the end of the day, this is a crime against humanity. There were 215 lives lost. In my opinion, that number is actually much larger: We just have not discovered them yet. The …
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Mr. Speaker, the one thing that has come forward from my indigenous constituents from this tragedy is that they want funding to conduct investigations of all of the residential schools in Canada, to determine where other lost souls may lie and to give them proper burials according to first nations tradition and culture. That is one thing we could do for first nations: We could make sure that the g…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Labrador for her question, but I will say that all of the things she said I said were not necessarily things I actually said in the first place. I support the goals and aspirations of UNDRIP. As the member for Kenora outlined earlier in his testimony, during committee there were a number of first nations that had issues with free, prior and informed consent…
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Mr. Speaker, my riding borders Kamloops and many of my constituents or their relatives are buried and are among the 215, so my heart tonight is with the Secwépemc, St'at'imc, Nlaka'pamux, likely some Stó:lo and Tsilhqot'in first nations, which were all likely impacted by this horrific tragedy. Yesterday afternoon, I was at Heritage Park. It is a beautiful park in Mission, British Columbia. It over…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, today is the 30th and final day for the minister to report to Parliament on the effectiveness of the national housing strategy through its first triennial report. In every single part of the country, housing prices continue to rise. The cost of construction is skyrocketing and young Canadians and first-time homebuyers are telling the government their dream of home ownership is more ou…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, greater Vancouver, Toronto and Hamilton have the dubious honour of being some of the least affordable housing markets in North America. It is cheaper to buy a house in Los Angeles or New York City. The Liberals continue to fail to take real action and address the overwhelming housing affordability crisis in Canada. The finance minister admits Canada's lack of housing supply is a serio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to echo the thanks given by my colleague for Charlottetown. The Conservative Party of Canada supports the desire of urban, remote and northern indigenous peoples for autonomy over their housing needs in line with the “for indigenous, by indigenous” principle. The fundamental nature of this principle, however, is that indigenous people decide for themselves how their hou…
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Madam Chair, budget 2021 showcases how the government continues to turn a blind eye to money laundering. Why is the government failing to act and deliver on money laundering?
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Madam Chair, how many units has the national housing strategy built?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, how many units has the national housing strategy built?
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Madam Chair, the finance minister has acknowledged that Canada's housing affordability crisis is fundamentally tied to increasing supply, yet the budget breezed past this critical issue. Housing hopelessness is top of mind for Canadians. Why is the government failing to act?
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Madam Chair, nobody can deny in Canada that the cost of housing has increased substantially since the pandemic began. What would the minister advise a young family trying to enter the market today?
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Madam Chair, we know that Canada's economic recovery from COVID-19 must include infrastructure investment. Groups like the Canadian Home Builders' Association have long been calling for the government to open its eyes and recognize housing as a critical component of Canadian infrastructure. However, the PBO and the Auditor General have found that the Liberals cannot account for their infrastructur…
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Madam Chair, the minister should speak with those on the ground. This morning, I spoke with Burnaby's mayor, the chair of the Metro Vancouver housing committee. His city has nine shovel-ready sites, six for the national housing co-investment fund and three for the rapid housing initiative, none of which received funding for construction despite Burnaby being the third most unaffordable place to li…
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Madam Chair, I will ask the minister for a straight answer. How many units has the national housing strategy built since it was implemented?
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Madam Chair, when will the minister commit to introducing legislation that amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to implement the much-needed recommendations from reputable academics and commissions from across Canada, particularly in my province?
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Madam Chair, when will the new registry be tabled in Parliament?
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Madam Chair, despite several years of assurances by the federal government that it is committed to the creation of an urban indigenous housing strategy, the budget excluded it. Why?
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Madam Chair, I am sorry. I think that might have been a delay.
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Madam Chair, the mayor of Burnaby stated that if the intent of the government is to slow supply, then it should rely on the national housing strategy. Again, how many units has the national housing strategy built? It is a simple question.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, The Hamilton Spectator reported that Hamilton is less affordable than New York City. I will let that sink in. It is easier to buy a home in the Big Apple than it is in Hamilton. What is happening to our country? The Liberals' first-time home buyers' plan is a proven failure. A generation of Canadians are being left behind, and they are losing hope. What is the government's plan to sec…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, illicit drug production, distribution and use is occurring within the village of Cache Creek. The COVID-19 pandemic has been overshadowed by the opioid crisis in British Columbia, with more than 1,500 overdose deaths reported in 2020. Residents' calls, messages and pleas to municipal authorities and local law enforcement are regularly met with indifference or incapacity due to jurisdi…
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Mr. Speaker, this government promised $5,000 grants to homeowners who make energy-efficient retrofits as of December 1, 2020, but it has not even established eligibility requirements. Homeowners and contractors are being told to hold on to their receipts to see if they will be paid back, as promised, for the investments they made at the direction of this government. The Liberals have rolled out ye…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday, the residents of Mission, B.C. voted in a mayoral by-election and selected Paul Horn as their representative. I congratulate Paul on his victory. In all, six candidates put their names on the ballot and presented their vision for the future. It was an exceptional campaign. I thank Earl, Rhett, Dave, Colin and Nelson. All the campaigns brought forward new ideas to b…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today relates to human trafficking. The petitioners outline that the U.S. Department of State's 20th Trafficking in Persons Report indicates that Canada meets the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. Therefore, they call upon the Government of Canada to strengthen the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling two petitions. In the first petition, my constituents are concerned about the safety of Indian farmers protesting changes affecting their livelihoods. They call on the federal government to condemn the use of violence and reaffirm Canada's international support for the fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly. Without farmers, we do not have food.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I apologize. The lack of transparency from the Liberals has left Canadians confused and anxiously waiting for their turn. In the midst of the third wave, Canadians are struggling to cope with the rise of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 variants and increasing ICU admissions, never mind the ripple effect of these circumstances, including job losses, reduced hours, travel restrictions, chart…
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Madam Speaker, I stand in this place today to highlight the federal government’s failure to stop the current third wave of COVID-19, and to press it to secure faster access to much-needed vaccines. While we see the EU and the United States took swift action to secure life-saving vaccines for their citizens, the government here is standing idle as our vaccine shipments get delayed and cut amidst th…
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Madam Speaker, we are in the House today because it is incumbent upon the opposition to continue to push and fight for the government to give us a plan on how it is going to move forward. To the NDP and Bloc Québécois members of the House, it is not just the Conservatives saying this. The Minister of Health in British Columbia said that the Liberal delivery of vaccines has been unpredictable. The …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from the Bloc Québécois for her question. In my province of British Columbia, I think that less than 2% of the population have received both doses. That is simply not enough. Yesterday, in British Columbia, the CBC covered the vaccine pop-up clinic in Surrey—Newton. Hundreds of people waited all day long because they were promised a vaccine. Howeve…
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Madam Speaker, the federal government has a responsibility to indigenous Canadians and to federal front-line health care workers. The federal government should focus on getting those people vaccinated first. The reality is that if we talk to any provincial leader, they will say, as they have said consistently, that they have not received enough vaccines. I believe the provincial governments, irres…
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Mr. Speaker, the member just mentioned our beautiful British Columbia. I would like to get her comments on the community benefit agreements, which are a provincial matter, but given we just went in that direction, I do not think it is completely irrelevant. In British Columbia, the Christian Labour Association has been excluded by the New Democratic Party and Premier John Horgan from bidding on ma…
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Mr. Speaker, does the member believe that the Christian Labour Association of Canada, or CLAC, is a real union and that CLAC should have the opportunity to bid on infrastructure projects like the designated unions under the provincial government of B.C.?
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Mr. Speaker, could the member from the Bloc Québécois outline again how the Government of Canada has infringed upon the rights of these Canadian workers? I need a little clarification there.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I will take no advice from the member opposite, who believes that foreign buyers should have more access to purchasing a home in Canada than a young Canadian. I could go on all day about the failures of the Liberal government to address young homebuyers. The new housing program has not even made changes yet to address the rising house prices in Vancouver. Why is the Liberal government…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, home ownership is becoming impossible for Canadians to attain, a trend that has only grown exponentially worse over the course of this pandemic. The stats back this up. CREA reports that the national average home price rose 31.6% compared to March of last year. Why has the Liberal government’s 2021 budget completely ignored first-time homebuyers and the housing needs of young Canadian…
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Madam Speaker, we need to take actions at the federal level to ensure Canadians have a better chance of home ownership. As the housing shadow minister, I am committed to provide hope to Canadians to get into the market. Canadians need to come first over foreign buyers. The member is right to point out many people who are say living in Victoria, Burnaby or Nanaimo have been left out because they we…
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Madam Speaker, I am not an economist, so I am not going to go very deep into the quantitative easing program, but I do know that we are seeing record inflation as it relates to housing. We need to get that under control, and that starts with the Government of Canada getting its spending under control and putting forward a reasonable pathway to balance budgets to protect the long-term interests of …
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech related to AHMA, federal money for indigenous people would be better spent if we empowered indigenous Canadians to take control over their own housing needs. Right now, we have too much of an Ottawa-knows-best approach and we need to empower indigenous Canadians both with home ownership and with a new co-op arrangement, for example, to give them the tools…
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Madam Speaker, the one aspect of the national housing strategy that is really good is the rental construction financing initiative. However, the reality is that we have a supply shortage in Canada and we need to do more through taxation measures to produce even more building. The Liberal program focuses a lot on social housing, but it does not address those who do not want to live in a social hous…
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Madam Speaker, it is a real honour to be back in Ottawa and to have the opportunity to respond to the budget. Today I will be speaking on housing. I want to begin by sharing a personal story. In 2016, I distinctly remember reading in the Abbotsford News that house prices had increased over 30% during the spring season. I was filled with anxiety and the fear of missing out, the fear of being unable…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it was an honour to move my first motion in the House of Commons. The second petition I am presenting today is on behalf of my constituents in the Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs areas of my riding. They are concerned about grow ops in residential neighbourhoods and the negative impact these are having on the health of nearby residents. The petitioners call upon the Government of Can…
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Mr. Speaker, I move: That the House provide unanimous consent for me to present a second petition today.
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Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of commercial event spaces, including trade shows, consumer shows and exhibitions, which have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Petitioners in my riding call for a sector-specific recovery plan, because they believe more specific support is needed to support this industry. They believe that giving a hand up to this industry, whose members are active parti…
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Madam Speaker, the member spoke at length about how the budget reflects the heart, mind and soul of this Liberal government. He spoke at length about not being afraid of investing to meet the needs of Canadians. I think all parliamentarians agree that we need to invest to meet the needs of all Canadians. The member also mentioned that we need to learn from the past. I was perplexed when I did my f…
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