“I want the Conservatives to change their policy and admit that the federal government should help build housing.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would appeal to the member to reverse the Conservative policy of just getting out of the way, recognizing that the federal government does have a role to play in housing. Would he not agree?”

“Housing is an important issue across Canada. The federal government should lead and work with provinces and non-profit groups to support affordable housing.”

“Madam Speaker, I look at the federation as working in a collaborative way. When we think in terms of the important issues Canadians have, housing is one of them. When I think in terms of issues like housing co-ops, Quebec has a lot of housing co-ops, as Manitoba has housing co-ops. I think of organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Again, throughout our great nation, there is a presence, a footprint of Habitat for Humanity. These are organizations that I believe want to be able to see the federal government continue to work collaboratively, to continue to provide programs that are going to encourage growth and support non-profit housing. Ultimately, I believe the federal government does have a leadership role to play on the national scene. I guess we will have to agree to disagree, but the principle of government support for housing is something I think we can both agree on.”

“The federal government cannot fix the housing crisis alone. We must work with provinces, cities, Indigenous communities, and non-profits to build more homes. I want the member to explain her plan to build one million public homes. What does she mean by public homes, and does she want the government to pay for all of them and keep funding them?”

“Madam Speaker, I think it is important to recognize, within the legislation and the commitment of the government, the issue, in one word, of collaboration. It is not going to be the federal government itself that resolves the housing crisis. We have to work with many different stakeholders: provinces, indigenous communities, territories, municipalities, housing co-ops and others. Habitat for Humanity is one of the non-profits I constantly bring up. That is what this government has committed to do: increase the housing stock. The member made reference to two things that I would like her to provide a bit of further comment on. She said to build one million public homes. How would she define public homes? Would the government build them in their entirety and then provide an ongoing subsidy of 30%, as the member said? Today, there are non-profit government-run houses where there is a percentage based on income. Is that what she is proposing for the one million homes?”

“This bill helps us work with the provinces, territories, and Indigenous peoples to fix housing problems. We are also putting a lot of money into it. Does the member agree that working together like this is important?”

“Madam Speaker. I understand the member has not decided how she is going to be voting on the bill. I think it is important to recognize, as she has, the purpose of the bill. The bill is there, in a way, to clearly demonstrate that working collaboratively with provinces, indigenous peoples, territories and the many other stakeholders is the best way for us to address the multitude of issues facing Canada’s housing situation. The federal government is stepping up. Here we are talking about legislation, but we have also made serious dollar commitments through the budget to support Build Canada Homes. I think we have to take a holistic approach to dealing with it. Could the member provide her thoughts in regard to how important it is to work collaboratively with others? This, at least, helps set that stage.”