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Mr. Chair, again, the member opposite is talking about a B.C. government decision, not a federal government decision, and certainly not one related to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.
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Mr. Chair, I do not know where the drug policy fits within the estimates for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada.
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Mr. Chair, we are here to talk about the actions and the budget of the federal government on affordable housing and infrastructure.
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Mr. Chair, I am here to answer questions about the budget for the federal government on housing and infrastructure, and I welcome questions on that.
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Mr. Chair, I believe that the member has the answer to that question, so he can answer it for himself.
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Mr. Chair, our focus is on building affordable housing. The MLI select program is working right now. We are going to focus on building more affordable housing.
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Mr. Chair, it is very difficult right now for people to afford to buy homes in Canada, and that is why we have to focus on affordable supply.
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Mr. Chair, I understood the member's question to be whether rural areas are served by this program. That is correct.
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Mr. Chair, home prices have skyrocketed, and that is why we need to be building affordable housing across Canada.
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Mr. Chair, I think the general definition of affordable is that it is less than 30% of people's income.
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Mr. Chair, the housing accelerator has agreements with over 200 communities across Canada that will unlock over 800,000 homes in the future.
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Mr. Chair, the housing accelerator fund has invested $4.4 billion to eliminate the barriers to development and build homes faster.
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Mr. Chair, what matters to me is building more affordable housing, and members on this side of the House will put all efforts into that.
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Mr. Chair, homes need to be for living in; they need to be for residents and not investors.
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Mr. Chair, investment is secondary to people's living in homes. We need to build homes that people live in, not invest in.
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Mr. Chair, I think the focus here needs to be on building homes for people to live in, not building homes for investors to own.
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Mr. Chair, I am here to answer questions on behalf of my department for the investment in affordable housing across Canada, and infrastructure and housing.
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Mr. Chair, “build Canada homes” is going to focus on building affordable housing across Canada at a scale that is unprecedented.
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Mr. Chair, on this side of the House, we are very committed to transparency. We will be tracking and working with the local governments to see how they are progressing on delivering the housing units they are rezoning for.
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Mr. Chair, yes, I am aware of Canada Lands, its different functions and the assets that are held for Canadians.
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Mr. Chair, at this stage, we are designing the future for “build Canada homes”. It is not an entity that exists yet, but I hope the members opposite will support the investment to scale affordable housing—
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Mr. Chair, “build Canada homes” is not specifically in the infrastructure and housing estimates at this stage.
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Mr. Chair, at this point, we are dealing with the estimates for the current programs that the housing and infrastructure department is putting out.
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Mr. Chair, again, the member should direct those questions to the appropriate minister; they are not related to the department.
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Mr. Chair, I can get the member that detailed answer shortly. I do not have it at my fingertips, but I can do that.
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Mr. Chair, the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund has already provided almost $3 billion in support across Canada to—
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Mr. Chair, the typical coverage across the country is per capita, but there are variations in that depending on the province and certainly the issues, the disasters.
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Mr. Chair, for this time period, $643.8 million is the amount that is put forward for the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund.
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Mr. Chair, yes, there are ongoing discussions, certainly, on both housing and infrastructure, with the Government of Quebec.
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Mr. Chair, certainly the government is committed to supporting communities. That is why the fund exists: to be able to make the infrastructure more resilient and to support communities—
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Mr. Chair, first and foremost, governments need to invest in the housing infrastructure, and local governments typically make that investment and recover the cost through development charges. This government is looking at helping those—
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Mr. Chair, I used to farm very close to Abbotsford, so I am keenly aware of the challenges in the Fraser Valley and the disasters that have affected the region.
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Mr. Chair, I am not sure what the phrase “the cost of government” indicates, but development cost charges need to be covered for the housing infrastructure, and how that is split between governments—
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Mr. Chair, the price of housing is set by the market. What we need to focus on as a government in Canada is affordability and making sure there is a supply of affordable homes.
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Mr. Chair, I am familiar with the program, yes.
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Mr. Chair, the cost of the housing infrastructure can affect it, depending on the market across Canada. The market in some markets, such as Toronto and Vancouver, is much higher than the percentage-driven—
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Mr. Chair, the MLI select program is part of CMHC.
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Mr. Chair, it really varies with the application through CMHC. There is quite a range depending on the scale of the project for CMHC.
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Mr. Chair, we have seen the prices of housing escalate across the country and in many cities around the world. This is a global challenge but one we have to—
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Mr. Chair, on the MLI select program, I can get the member some detailed information about those questions. I would be happy to do that.
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Mr. Chair, I am not clear on what the member is asking through that question. If he could clarify—
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Mr. Chair, I spent 10 years as mayor of Vancouver and a lot of time in homeless shelters and opening homeless shelters—
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Mr. Chair, as far as I know, this is not an inflationary program.
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Mr. Chair, I am proud of the work that the city did to house thousands of people who were homeless in Vancouver and build social and supportive housing.
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Mr. Chair, homelessness is a huge challenge across the country, and that is why it is a top priority for us to tackle it with affordable housing.
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Mr. Chair, it is important that nobody of any age is forced to be homeless, and the investment needs to be made—
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Mr. Chair, as I have said, homelessness is something that we all need to tackle together. We need to work together at all levels of government to solve this.
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Mr. Chair, I will tell them we are about to make the biggest investment in tackling homelessness that Canada has ever seen, and we hope to have their support.
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