“Building homes costs much more in remote areas like my riding. Will this new housing agency adjust its funding to match these higher costs? Right now, local projects are stopped because the budgets are based on cheaper city costs.”

“Madam Speaker, I want to take advantage of the minister’s presence here to tell him about what is happening in my riding, in the Gaspé region and in the Magdalen Islands. The cost to build housing is not the same across the board. In the Gaspé region, in particular, it often costs about 25% more because of the remote location and the fact that there is less competition. It is even worse in the Magdalen Islands because all the materials have to be brought in by ship. Here is my concern and my question for the minister. First, is he aware that the regions may have different construction costs? Second, will Build Canada Homes have the flexibility it needs in its support for housing projects in order to adapt to regional realities? Otherwise, what is happening right now is that projects in my riding are stalled because they cannot be completed within the budget, given that construction costs were based on cost estimates in urban areas.”

“The government wants to use factory-built homes to lower costs. But shipping the parts to rural areas like the Gaspé Peninsula is expensive, so it does not actually save money. I want to know if the government will account for these shipping costs in its housing plans.”

“Madam Speaker, I would like to continue the discussion with the minister. He mentioned prefabricated houses, and I am aware that both the Quebec and Canadian governments prefer them as a means of reducing costs. However, what we are seeing in the Gaspé Peninsula is that prefabricated components have to be shipped, and that poses a problem. I therefore ask that, when planning future programs, the government consider that prefabricated houses, if built in the city, will have to be shipped to the regions, which adds to the cost. So far, in the Gaspé Peninsula, we have determined that it does not actually work out to be any cheaper in the end. I would also like to mention the company Les Habitations Mont-Carleton, which is based in Matane and aims to become a Canadian leader. I think they have a bright future. Can the minister assure us that, even if the government makes a shift towards prefabricated housing, the cost of shipping the components will be taken into account?”

“We will not vote against this bill because Quebec agreed to it. Still, the government should just send housing money directly to Quebec instead of creating a new agency to do work that existing agencies can already do.”

“Mr. Speaker, I have a question that has already been asked, but I do not think the answer was adequate: Why replace existing bodies, such as the CMHC, that could very well have fulfilled the same role? Essentially, we are not going to oppose the bill since an agreement has been reached with the Government of Quebec, but it would have been much easier to simply transfer the money to Quebec.”