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Adjournment Proceedings

2026-05-25 Sitting 121 Showing 1–2 of 2

In adjournment proceedings, the Conservatives criticized the Liberals for distorting the housing market through subsidies and red tape, leading to an overheated market. The Liberals defended their approach, touting large investments in housing and infrastructure to improve affordability. Both sides traded blame without discussing substantive policy solutions.

Official Hansard ↗

Tamara Jansen

Conservative 7:15 p.m.

“I want the government to stop messing with the housing market. They drove up demand without enough supply. Now everything's a mess and they won't admit it.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Canada's housing market today looks a lot like a young man driving a road racer down an icy highway in the middle of winter. The engine roars, the tires grip and the driver thinks he is in control and so he presses harder on the gas. Imagine a souped-up, five-litre Mustang with more horsepower than common sense. The speed builds, but suddenly the tires lose traction. The steering becomes unstable, and the vehicle starts sliding. A smart driver would ease off carefully and regain control but, just like a reckless teenager, the Liberal government does not believe in restraint. It believes Ottawa can control markets better than Canadians themselves, and that arrogance is exactly what has driven Canada's housing market into the ditch. First, the Liberals went full throttle on immigration and population growth without building the homes, infrastructure, roads, utilities or skilled labour force needed to support it. Canada added well over one million new residents in a single year, one of the fastest population growth rates in the developed world. The Liberal government drove demand through the roof while supply was trapped behind taxes, red tape, permitting delays and development charges, forcing prices to explode. Young families were suddenly bidding against impossible demand. Rents soared and house prices spiralled. Ordinary Canadians who worked hard and played by the rules found themselves locked out of home ownership altogether. The Liberals treated the housing market like a driver flooring a powerful car on black ice and then acted surprised when the whole thing started fishtailing. Then, after overheating the market, the Liberals pulled the emergency brake, cutting immigration and locking us in a dangerous skid. At the peak, they brought one million international students into the country and then abruptly, this year, came to a screeching halt of less than half. However, when a car is already sliding, hitting the brakes too hard does not restore control; it sends the whole vehicle spinning. Adding to that chaos, the Liberals' so-called build Canada approach threw billions of dollars at the catastrophic crash site. Once again, the Liberals believed they could centrally plan the economy from the top down. They encouraged prefab factories and construction suppliers to tool up for enormous future projects that have not materialized. Billions were announced, bureaucracies expanded, but uncertainty exploded. Development costs climbed even higher. Builders were crushed between rising interest rates, government interference, expensive regulations and constantly changing rules. Instead of stabilizing housing, Liberal central planning created even greater instability. Now, we are seeing the devastating consequences. Across the Fraser Valley, we have warning lights flashing everywhere. Thind Properties, Maskeen Group, Brivia Group, Coromandel Properties, Square Nine Developments, 14 Property Group, Wade Development, and Everest Group are struggling with receiverships, insolvencies, foreclosures, creditor protection, stalled projects, laid-off workers and families left wondering whether the homes they paid for will ever even be built. This is what happens when government distorts markets long enough that confidence itself begins to collapse. Conservatives believe in a common-sense approach. We believe that the people who know how to build homes are builders, not politicians. We believe government should stop choking developments with taxes, delays, gatekeepers and ideological central planning. We believe in getting government out of the way so the private sector can do what it does best: build. Canadians do not need more politicians grabbing the steering wheel. They need a government with enough wisdom to finally let the country get back on track. Will the Liberal government admit that its housing policies are the reason Canadians cannot afford a home?

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Tamara Jansen

Conservative 7:30 p.m.

“Liberals messed with the housing market. They pumped it up, then let it drop. Now everything's unstable and Canadians suffer.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, what we are witnessing now is the consequence of years of Liberal market distortion through subsidies, red tape and unpredictable government policy. The Liberals overheated the housing market with record immigration levels and developers responded by investing billions, hiring workers and putting shovels in the ground based on the conditions the government created. Then Ottawa suddenly slammed on the brakes. After years of overheating demand, the Liberals abruptly reversed course without a plan, leaving developers watching the market shift beneath projects already under way as rental vacancy rates jumped more than 40% year over year. Housing projects take years to plan and build. The government cannot pull one policy lever to flood the market and then yank another to choke off demand and expect builders, renters or buyers to have any stability. This is a failure of central planning. The Liberals created this distortion and now Canadians are paying the price.

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