Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Housing Accelerator Fund: (a) will having municipal regulations that encourage housing development be a pre-requisite for communities to receive money through the fund, and, if not, why not; (b) will communities who receive funding be required to avoid taking any action that makes the building of housing more difficult, such as restrictive zoning changes or by-laws; (c) what are…
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Mr. Speaker, on the same day we learned that the price of the average home shot up again, the Minister of Housing would not answer simple questions about the housing crisis. We asked why rent had doubled over the last eight years. We asked why home prices have doubled over the last eight years. We asked him why his own officials have said that they could see a 32% decline in housing starts this ye…
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Mr. Chair, Covenant House Vancouver constructed a new facility. It cost $50 million. It received $12 million from the CMHC, but it cost $1 million in lobbyists and consultants. Does that sound like a wise housing plan to the minister?
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Mr. Chair, the minister's own officials have predicted a 32% decrease in housing starts this year thanks to outrageous spending and high interest rates. Is that a good housing plan?
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Mr. Chair, nine out of 10 young people in this country who do not own a home believe they never will. Does that sound like a successful housing plan to the minister?
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Mr. Chair, Covenant House Toronto says that one-third of its residents are students. Does that sound like a successful housing plan to the minister?
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Mr. Chair, of those 28,000 properties, only 20,000 are for single family or duplex units, so it is 71% of those properties within a one-kilometre radius. The federal government has committed $1 billion to this project. I am curious to know if he thinks that is wise considering the fact that there is not enough multi-unit residential housing next to those stations.
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Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that within a one-kilometre radius of all SkyTrain stations in Vancouver, there are about 28,000 properties? Of those properties, does he know how many are actually available for multi-unit residential housing?
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Mr. Chair, I am not sure if the minister understands how this works. I ask the questions. Is Canada facing a housing crisis right now?
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Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with two of my colleagues. My first question for the minister is this: Does he believe that Canada is in fact in a housing crisis?
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Mr. Chair, I am wondering if the minister is aware of the number of rental units we are required to build in this country to make them more affordable again?
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Mr. Chair, how many rental units do we need in this country to make them more affordable again?
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Mr. Chair, does the minister believe that a massive increase in insurance premiums for multi-unit residential rental buildings is going to slow construction of those units?
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Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that the CMHC just recently raised insurance premiums on multi-unit residential construction? Can he tell us what the percentage increase was?
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Mr. Chair, does the minister realize that voting against plans that do not work actually makes a lot more sense than just continuing on with plans that are not working and that are in fact making the situation worse?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, maybe the minister should come with me as I criss-cross the country talking to community groups whose members have given up. They come to me in tears because of the disastrous housing policy the government has presented. They have handed out $26 million in bonuses. How many homes could we build with an extra $26 million?
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Mr. Speaker, we already know that the Liberals' $80-billion housing plan has only made the crisis worse. In fact, as of a few weeks ago, the CMHC has raised government fees on new rental construction. Countless housing providers have abandoned new projects because of the red tape and endless delays at the CMHC. We have now learned that every single executive at the CMHC got a fat bonus. Why do the…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat, broken down by year for each of the last three years: (a) what was the number of employees or full time equivalents working at the secretariat, broken down by employee category; (b) what was the total amount spent on (i) salary and benefits, (ii) travel and hospitality; (c) how many meetings were booked; and (d) what are the det…
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Madam Speaker, having a place to call home should not be merely a dream in Canada. It should not be a distant memory from generations past. It must be an achievable reality for all Canadian families. Canada cannot reach its full potential until everyone has a safe bed to sleep in and a welcoming place to come home to at the end of the day. I have had the privilege of visiting many communities in C…
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Madam Speaker, I am a former mayor, and I was a chair of planning for many years before that. I guarantee the vast majority of these complaints come from people who just do not want change. Many, many times in planning committees we would have people come to say they did not like something, it would negatively affect the value of their property or there would be too many people. The fact of the ma…
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Madam Speaker, I will use a line from President Reagan: “trust, but verify.” If they are not getting the job done, they cannot be trusted. That is all there is to it. The federal government ties strings to funding all the time. This is a crisis. People say to just trust the municipalities, to not worry about it and that one should not invade in anybody else's space. In a crisis, it is all hands on…
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Mr. Speaker, CMHC is reporting that Canada could see a reduction of almost 32% in new housing construction this year. Its chief economist said that, with record inflation, sky-high interest rates and labour shortages, the current economic situation is “inhospitable” for new construction. The warnings are coming from inside the castle walls now. I am wondering when this government will actually cle…
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Madam Speaker, I am a big fan of my colleague who asked the question, and I admire her passion for housing. REITs were a tool used by the previous government with tax treatment to create investment in an aging housing stock. Part of the problem we have in this country is that we stopped building purpose-built rental in the 1970s because the Trudeau government of the time decided it was unfair and …
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Madam Speaker, I was not planning on asking a question, but I will tell the member how the town of Gravenhurst is pronounced. Many times in this House I have talked about the importance of the federal immigration system working directly with the provinces to make sure we are attracting the right skills to build the homes Canadians need. I wonder if he can speak to that. Are we actually doing enoug…
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure members that when we replace the Liberals as the government, we will deliver better. We will not waste taxpayers' money so egregiously to achieve nothing for results. Under the Liberals, local politicians are delaying and even blocking new housing. Saskatoon guarantees a building permit for a house in five days. It can be done. There is no reason for the delay. When will …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Prime Minister, Canadians cannot afford a home of their own. It costs $2,500 a month for a couple to rent a room in a townhouse. That is not for the townhouse; that is just for a room. Mortgage payments have doubled. Construction of new housing is actually in decline. The Liberals' $90-billion transformational housing scheme is making the situation worse. O…
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Mr. Speaker, I have news for the minister. I have read his national housing plan, and it is not working. It is making the situation worse. Every member on this side of the House can be very proud of the fact that we did not write a blank cheque for Liberal failures when we voted against it. The housing minister does not seem to even understand that we are in a housing crisis. The Liberals' expensi…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the housing crisis is holding Canadians hostage. Young people who dream of having their own home have been relegated to spare bedrooms and homes with roommates because of the sky-high cost of housing. In Canada’s biggest cities, like Toronto and Vancouver, an apartment can go for upwards of $1,300 a month. Even in smaller cities, like London, Halifax, Victoria and Winnipeg, a single r…
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Mr. Speaker, well, it is pretty clear it is not working. The average rent in Toronto for a one-bedroom apartment is now over $2,500 per month. Canadians who are going to renew their mortgages this year are faced with record increases in interest costs, and now the CMHC has increased fees by up to 200% on the programs builders use to finance multi-unit residential construction. If the government re…
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Mr. Speaker, “we see the interest rate increases over the course of 2022 leading to lower housing starts this year.” Those are the words of a market analyst at the CMHC. Excessive Liberal borrowing and spending caused a spike in interest rates and will stall new housing construction. CMHC has also said that we need to build 5.8 million homes by 2030 if we have any hope of restoring affordability. …
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Madam Speaker, in over 70 countries today, the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer individuals are criminalized. In 12 of those countries, consensual same-sex conduct may be punished by death. Their only crime is being themselves. On July 1, 1960, on the eve of the passage of the Canadian Bill of Rights, Prime Minister Diefenbaker declared, in this House, his pledge to uphol…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House on behalf of the people of Parry Sound—Muskoka to talk about the issues that matter to them. Obviously, the affordability of life is a key issue in Parry Sound—Muskoka. Trying to find a home is a big issue. Housing is probably the number one issue in Parry Sound—Muskoka. It is not just the big cities of Toronto and Vancouver where the tent…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the government, housing is broken. Health care workers are living in tents, students are living in homeless shelters, vacancy rates are at an all-time low and rental rates are now $2,000 a month. Home prices have doubled under the government's watch, and nine out of 10 young people who do not own homes in this country think they never will. Everyone agrees that Ca…
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister's inflationary policies driving up prices and interest rates, the cost of living is crippling for many Canadians, especially those looking for a home. Rent has doubled, if one can find a place to rent. After eight years of the Prime Minister, mortgages have doubled as well. Nine out of 10 young people in this country who do not own a home beli…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to occupancy levels of government-owned building spaces, broken down by metropolitan area: (a) how many building spaces are owned by the government; (b) what are the maximum occupancy levels of the building spaces; (c) what are the current occupancy levels; (d) what are the projected occupancy levels, once the public service finalizes its transition from working remotely during the pan…
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal inflation is making everything Canadians need more expensive. Food, fuel, rent and mortgages are all more expensive thanks to Liberal excessive borrowing and spending. The average rent in Canada is now a whopping $2,000 a month. In Toronto and Vancouver, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now double what it was in 2015. A mortgage getting renewed this year will cost $7,00…
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Mr. Speaker, never has a government spent so much to accomplish so little. The current Liberal government promised a life-changing housing plan. Here is the change. Students are living in homeless shelters, health care workers are living in tents and hard-working Canadians are left on the street. They did everything we asked. They worked hard. They got an education. They got a good job. Now they a…
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Madam Speaker, it is a really great idea. In fact, what we need to have here is a situation in which all levels of government are working together. Let us not kid ourselves. Municipalities and to a smaller degree provinces are the front lines of the housing crisis in this country. The federal government has a role to play in working with municipalities and provinces and, frankly, with the private …
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For one true measure of a nation is its success in fulfilling the promise of a better life for each of its members. Let this be the measure of our nation. Madam Speaker, as I was listening to the fall economic statement, I thought of the words of President John F. Kennedy in his message to Congress in February 1962. I thought it was important to measure this fall economic statement against whether…
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Madam Speaker, I can assure the member that when I was running for leader of this party and criss-crossing the country, Canadians were not talking to me about that. They were talking to me about what it costs to live in this country and the abysmal record of the government. That is what we are here to talk about, frankly, not what somebody else may or may not have said about anything. This is abou…
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Madam Speaker, I am not going to get trapped in the ideological entrenchment of the NDP, but the fact of the matter is that the Liberal government collects billions and billions of tax dollars and promptly wastes it. Instead of collecting more taxes from companies and hard-working Canadians, I suggest we get rid of the government, put a Conservative government in place, and actually spend their mo…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister broke his promise to Canadians. In 2017, he launched his national housing strategy, calling it, among other things, a “life-changing plan” to get Canadians into homes and to keep them there. The minister even recently gave housing bureaucrats $48 million in bonuses for a job well done, but we all know the housing crisis has gotten worse under the government. Will th…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General laid the facts bare for all Canadians. Never, ever has a government spent so much to deliver so little. Canadians see the results. They see the tent cities growing all across this country. Can the minister please explain to the House and to every single Canadian who cannot find a home right now why the government would give $48 million in bonuses to feder…
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal coalition has racked up over $500 billion in inflation-causing deficits, turning essentials like heating our homes and eating healthy food into luxuries. Just as Canadians are starting to pay high, skyrocketing prices to fuel their homes, skyrocketing visits to food banks are happening in Canada as well. When will this costly coalition stop hurting Canadians and cancel…
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe how tone deaf that answer is. He is talking about cellphone bills when people cannot afford to eat and heat their homes. This coalition would have people believe that more inflation-causing borrowing to give Canadians $500 to help them pay for thousands more dollars in groceries, thousands more dollars for heating their homes and thousands more to pay their mortgages …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, there is a housing crisis in Canada. Too many first-time homebuyers are giving up on the dream of ever owning a home. Market rentals are hard to find. Affordable rentals are impossible to find. I have heard from housing providers and community groups all across the country that are so eager to help be part of the solution, but are continually stymied by NIMBY municipal politicians and…
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Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed my colleague's speech. It was well thought out and well prepared. It was interesting to listen to the Liberal member talk about the poor kids. We worry about children dearly in this Parliament. However, the reality is that this legislation has come about because of a backroom deal between the NDP and the Liberals so the Liberals can stay in power. Does the member not …
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Madam Speaker, on top of record Liberal deficits, record inflation and a tripling of the carbon tax, now this tax-and-spend Liberal government is coming after workers' paycheques and taking more. This week, we learned that the average Canadian family now spends more on taxes than they spend on the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing combined. Canadians are desperate. Will the governmen…
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Madam Speaker, in 1994, the people of Gravenhurst wisely selected John Klinck to be their representative, first as the councillor for Ward 3, then as a Muskoka district councillor and then, in 2000, as their mayor. After his 10 great years as mayor, the members of Muskoka district council wisely selected John Klinck to be their chairman, a role he has performed with grace and dignity for the last …
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to the ever-increasing Liberal carbon tax I am receiving messages from Canadians across this country who are wondering how they are going to heat their homes and eat this winter. Now the Liberals are coming after workers' paycheques, with CPP and EI increases. Canadians cannot afford to have the government take any more of their money. They are desperate for relief from the hig…
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