Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, coming out of the last election, the Prime Minister and the government made it very clear that housing was going to be a priority of this government, the issue of housing affordability, and we have seen that demonstrated in budgets and legislation. Once again, we have before us a very important piece of legislation that would give literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Canadians the opportunity to have a more affordable home. To me, that is what this is all about. There are two aspects that, I believe, would be profoundly and positively impacted by this particular piece of legislation. The most obvious is those who would have the opportunity, through this substantial break in terms of costs, to purchase and acquire a home. Another aspect that I would suggest we need to take into consideration and that would really benefit is our construction industry as a whole. I would like to provide comments on both of those issues, but first I will provide a quick comment, because I know members have raised the issue, on timing and concerns in regard to how quickly the government is trying to get this legislation through before the summer break. It is absolutely critical that we are there to deliver for Canadians in a very real and tangible way, which is exactly what Bill C‑26 would do. One thing that members need to recognize is that we brought the legislation into the House just last Thursday. The very first speaker on the legislation took two hours and 45 minutes of speaking time before he decided to let other members within the Conservative caucus speak. There should be no surprise coming from the Conservative benches that the government is concerned in regard to why, once again, we are seeing a Conservative opposition that tends to not want to see legislation pass, and then starts to criticize the government for not passing legislation. We have found, just like Stephen Harper, that at times the government needs to have a programming of legislation in order to be able to get the legislation passed. That has become very clear here in the House of Commons over the last number of months. The Prime Minister and every Liberal MP understand how important it is that we get the monies in that are so critically important. This is one aspect. It was not long ago that we were debating legislation for Build Canada Homes, which had a focus on affordable homes and has already been having tangible results because we had co-operation, independence and opportunities to expand through collaboration in that area. We are talking about thousands of homes in the making as a direct result of that piece of legislation. That is exactly what we are going to see here. We now have a Minister of Housing who has already had the discussions necessary with a province we should all be concerned about. The province of Ontario has some serious issues with housing starts. I am from Manitoba, but I understand the importance of trying to push those housing starts in the province of Ontario and other jurisdictions. I was very pleased to see the collaboration between the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, and it was to the degree that we now have an agreement where we will see the sales tax that would normally be applied to the construction of a new home dropped. That is going to save Ontarians tens of thousands of dollars. By presenting it in a fashion in which Ontario and Canada, in co-operation, are collaboratively working together, we are providing an incentive that will see many people in Ontario make the decision to build. That is the purpose of providing this incentive. It makes it more affordable, and we will see more homes being built this year in the province of Ontario as a direct result of two levels of government working together collaboratively, recognizing a problem and coming up with a direct action, a direct action that would complement other aspects of housing that the Government of Canada is working on. It is not just provincial governments that we recognize. We also recognize municipalities, and how it is that municipalities can benefit from working with the different partners, whether it is the provincial government or the national government. I remember having a discussion with the mayor of Winnipeg and the mayor talked about the hundreds of homes that have been built directly because of the support that the city has received from the federal government. I say that because it is a different level of government, and it demonstrates clearly that Ottawa, our national government, does have, and should have, a role when it comes to housing in our nation. I was pleased with the Bloc members who indicated that they would be supporting the bill. It is not too often that I say nice things about the Bloc, but this time, I will, because I see that members of the Bloc have recognized the value of a national government being able to support and work collaboratively with a provincial government. They recognize how residents of Quebec would actually benefit from it, as demonstrated by the Canada and Ontario benefit. I hope the Province of Manitoba will reach some sort of an agreement shortly. The sooner the better, I would suggest, so that the residents of Manitoba will likewise benefit under the program. I believe that our new Prime Minister, who was elected just over a year ago, made it very clear how important it is as a government to work collaboratively, where we can, with provinces to the benefit of Canadians. Housing is one of those areas where we have actually been somewhat successful. We have already had buy-in on Build Canada Homes, first the agency and now the Crown corporation. There are different stakeholders and different industries getting involved, like modular homes, non-profits, housing co-ops and other forms of housing. Today, we are talking about that $1.7 billion. Injecting that into the housing industry will enable many Canadians to have the opportunity to save, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of our construction industry. It is the workers who have the skill sets, the carpenters, the plumbers, the electricians, the roofers and the pipefitters. These professions are so critically important for building Canada strong. Putting in policies and bringing in legislation of this nature is going to provide jobs and opportunities in many different ways, whether it is for training facilities or for those who are currently employed in construction. It is also for those purchasing the homes, selling the homes and building the homes. There are many winners, because we recognize how important it is for the federal government to continue to work with provinces in a collaborative fashion to enhance the number of homes in Canada's housing stock. We are committed to increasing that housing stock, dramatically, in the coming years.
View on ourcommons.ca ↗
