CPAC - Monday, May 27, 2024 - 10:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #8

accelerator fund money is going to cities that are increasing their charges, Mr. Speaker. If you can imagine. In an affordability crisis, they're sending money to cities that are increasing charges. Case in point, city of Ottawa is going to get $176 million, 178 million, I apologize. They just approved an increase of their development charges by 11%. It will now cost an extra $55,000 on a house in Ottawa. City of Toronto got $471 million. They increased their development charges this year by 21%. They're making housing more expensive in a housing affordability crisis and what they gots out of this Liberal government is a cheerleading squad. What the Leader of the Opposition proposes is not telling them how to plan their cities. Not telling them what kind of housing they need. It's not telling them how to do their municipal zoning and approvals process. What he's telling them, what the Conservatives are saying, is government needs to get out of the way. And the way we will deliver that kind of result is by tying federal infrastructure money to cities to results. It's the fundamental difference between a government that's long on photo ops and talking points and proud of their parade and a government in waiting that will deliver results and pay for those results. No more promises. Canadians deserve results. They're tired of the photo ops and the vacuous grandstanding. They need results. And when the Leader of the Opposition is Prime prime minister, they'll get them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. >> The Speaker: Resuming debate. The Honourable Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader. >> It's a bit much listening to the member. He was the mayor of Muppetsville and he's talking about the cost and the perfect -- Huntsville and he's talking about the cost and percentage increases in terms of government cost. When he have the mayor, development charges went up 20%. That's two-zero percent, Madam Speaker. It will be interesting to see in terms Every of -- he says it's not true. Well, that's the number that I've been provided. We'll find out what's truth or not. It might upset him and justifiably so. You know something, Mr. Speaker, take a look at the bill itself. Imagine you have the leader of the Conservative Conservative Party trying to give the false impression that he actually cares about housing in Canada. What did he do when he was the minister responsible for housing in Canada, when we lost literally hundreds of thousands of housing units that went from low income affordable to a lot less than that, Mr. Speaker. Where they became that much more expensive. Hundreds of thousands of rental units. When he was the Minister of Housing, he built -- I need two hands for this, Mr. Speaker -- he built six nonprofit housing units or low income housing units, Mr. Speaker. Six. Now, cost him millions and millions of dollars to do that. And now he comes today as he's going to be the one that fixes the housing issues in the province -- or in Canada, Madam Speaker. You got to be kidding. How is that possible? Take a look in terms of the record of the Conservative Conservative Party. Not only was he a disaster when he was the Minister of Housing, the Conservative Conservative Party abandoned housing. Contrast that to what we have today: A Prime Minister and a government that is working with municipalities and provinces, recognizing the importance of housing. And investing not only time but also hundreds of millions going into billions of dollars into housing because we understand it's an issue of fairness. We got to think about the millennials and the generation X and ensuring that the housing dreams of Canadians is going to be there and alive into the future, Mr. Speaker. That's why we have a government that cares about housing in contrast to a government whether it's Harper or a former minister of house who go was today's leader of the Conservative Conservative Party that did not care about the housing in our country, Mr. Speaker. And the facts are there. That is the history. Contrast that to the billions when the Prime Minister came up with the first ever national housing strategy years ago, Mr. Speaker, and the types of financial assistance that we are

providing to nonprofit housing, whether it's the habitats, Mr. Speaker, or the infill homes that are there supporting housing co-ops, the nonprofits. These are the type of investments that we are putting in to housing. Not to mention working with provinces and municipalities. There was a time in which all political parties did not support housing. Whether they were New Democrats, Liberals, Conservatives, back in the early '90s, Mr. Speaker. But today there is -- you know, you're talking generations that you would have to go back before you found a Prime Minister, before you would find a government that is vested so much energy in terms of ensuring that the Federal Government plays an important role in housing, Mr. Speaker. We are demonstrating that and have been doing that ever since we've tabled the national housing strategy years ago. And that housing strategy is more than just paper because we have invested hundred had his of millions going into billions of dollars, Mr. Speaker. We are working with governments at all levels and nonprofits to ensure that affordable housing will continue to be a reality for Canadians, Mr. Speaker. That is something in which we are doing in a tangible way and that's why I'm totally amazed that you'd have today's leader of the Conservative Conservative Party trying to give that impression. He goes out in Canada talking about how Canada is broken, Mr. Speaker. And he amplifies the fears and anxieties of people in regards to the housing. Yes, it is a serious issue. That's why as he's going around speaking to the extreme right, we have the Prime Minister working with the federal minister, the provinces, and the municipalities. And a good example of that, Mr. Speaker, wasn't that long ago, maybe, I don't know, two months ago or eight weeks ago, the Prime Minister was actually in the city of Winnipeg. And in Winnipeg we had the premier, the provincial minister, federal minister, and the Premier Along with the mayor of Winnipeg talking about how Manitoba's moving forward in dealing with the issue of affordable housing. We had the mayor of Winnipeg back in December, myself, along with others, Mr. Speaker, where we talked about again how the federal government is investing and encouraging municipalities to build more homes. And not only encouraging but also providing financial support. That's the province of Manitoba where we see the type of cooperation. And it's not just governments, Mr. Speaker. Talk about organizations. I often make reference to Habitat for Humanity across Canada does phenomenal work in ensuring homes were affordable. Individuals that would never have the opportunity to get a home are getting homes. Over the years in Winnipeg alone you're talking 600 homes. The contributions that they have done to Winnipeg North, I would suggest to you, is very significant, from a nonprofit point of view, probably second to no other, Mr. Speaker. Thises is a government that has not just opened its eyes as the Conservative leader has done, Mr. Speaker, on the issue of housing; we've been dealing with housing for years now. And recognizing, Mr. Speaker, it's not just Ottawa's responsibility. Ottawa has a responsibility to lead and be there and to assist where we can and provide resources where we can, and we have been doing just that, Mr. Speaker. Contrast that to the attitudes that come from the leader of the Conservative Conservative Party or the Conservative Conservative Party in general. And that extreme right, what do they talk about? Well, they will criticize the municipalities. They will argue in terms of we have money and we're prepared to give money but you gotta do this, this, this, and this, and if you don't do that then you're not going to get any money. There's no sense of cooperation coming from the Conservative Conservative Party. None whatsoever. It's either our way or it's the highway when it comes to the development of housing. And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is only in the last two years that I've

actually started to hear Conservatives actually talk about housing. Unlike this governments, that has been talking about housing in terms of the Housing Accelerator Fund, which they opposed, Mr. Speaker. Where we talk about purpose-built apartments. Getting rid of the GST. Some provinces like the federal policy so much that they're doing the same thing with the provincial sales tax, Mr. Speaker. The Conservatives, no, they don't believe that's a good policy either. You know, they talked about the federal lands. Well, duh, we've been talking about the federal lands for years and we've actually taken actions on that, Mr. Speaker. Think of it Campion barracks as an example in the city of Winnipeg. Billions of dollars to support provinces and cities in making sure that the price of housing remains lower than it would be without that sort of a fund. Billions of dollars. Again looking for cooperation. $250 million towards homeless in the budget. Of course the Conservatives are voting against that also, Mr. Speaker. So they believe they have a nice shiny plan tied up in this particular bill. Well, welcome to the game, but the Conservative Conservative Party has no credibility on the issue of housing, Mr. Speaker. And that is the bottom line. As a Liberal government continues to demonstrate that it genuinely cares, the Conservative Conservative Party focuses on cuts. That's the difference. Liberals care, Conservatives cuts, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share a few words on the issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. >> The Speaker: [Voice of Interpreter]: Resuming debate. The Honourable member for La Pointe-de-l'Île. I'd like to reminds members they have 5 minutes before we have to wrap up to allow for the sponsor of this right to have the right of reply. The Honourable member. >> [Voice of Interpreter]: Bill C-356 repeats elements of the Conservative leader's speech on the housing crisis. According to him, municipalities are responsible for the housing crisis but holding up real estate development projects with their useless bureaucracy. Among other things, the Conservatives propose to set a target for housing starts that increases by 15% each year as of April 1st, 2024. Bill C-356 places the entire blame for the housing shortage on municipalities even though we know the current crisis would not have reached this magnitude had the Federal Government not withdrawn from funding social housing construction under the Harper regime. C-356 plans to put municipalities under trusteeship, preventing them from taking measures to protect their farmland, impose a minimum of social housing, or protect their built heritage. On pain of having their funding cut including for the development of public transit. My riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île, several meetings have enabled me to understand the scale of this expansion. What's sorely missing is affordable housing. There's a growing sense of despair because of this unbridled rise in rents. And people think that the Government is not making any decisions to help people face this crisis. They are continuing to help big promoters and this is having -- at the expense of a low income majority. The Bloc has already put forward a certain range of proposals to resolve this crisis, in particular the Government should undertake a financial reorganization of various programs stemming from the national housing strategy and create an acquisition fund. The creation of this fund would enable co-ops and nonprofits to acquire housing buildings currently accessible on the private market, preserve their affordability, and turn them into social, community, and very affordable housing. In my riding, for example, of mainburg corporation within the city of Montréal acquired [Speaking French] This 720 unit complex will now be protected from the speculative market to ensure long-term affordability. And the Bloc has been saying this for quite some time. Provinces and municipalities are in the best position to understand the housing needs on their territory. It's not up to the Federal Government to interfere. In fact, as a reminder, housing is the exclusive jurisdiction of Québec and the provinces. Since 1973, Québec law has

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