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Member for Thorn Hill.
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The Auditor General's new report on
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housing shows just how badly this
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government has failed Canadians. Since
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2018, the government spent over $300
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million to fund a new bureaucracy called
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the Federal Lands Initiative. It built
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309 units. That's less than 50 units a
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year. That's over a million bucks a
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unit. Now, the prime minister says he's
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going to create another bureaucracy to
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do exactly the same thing. So, how much
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more Canadians money will be flushed
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down the drain to pay for bureaucracies
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rather than paying for building homes?
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the honorable minister of government
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Thank you very much, uh, Mr. Speaker,
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and I want to thank the auditor general
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for her report regarding office space
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and federal lands. And I'll note that we
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accept all recommendations, but I also
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note that she highlights that progress
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has been made and it's we're on the way
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to meeting our objectives in term of
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affordable housings on public lands, on
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federal lands. And this is very good
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news for Canadians. Mr. Speaker, thank
1:01
Honorable member for Thorn Hill.
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Speaker, when you accept the findings
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and you do the exact same thing,
1:06
Canadians who need a place to live are
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the ones that end up paying the price.
1:09
The federal lands initiative, the crown
1:12
jewel of the government's agenda on
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building housing, has attained just 7%
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of its target. And the people in charge
1:19
of that initiative are the now justice
1:21
minister and the now finance minister.
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They actually got promoted. In the real
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world, incompetence of this magnitude
1:28
has consequences. So I have a simple
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question. Which one of them's getting
1:34
The honorable Minister of Housing and
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh well, I'm new
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to this place and thankful for the
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opportunity to be here. This new
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government is focused on moving forward
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and building affordable housing using
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the federal lands that we can make
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available and partnering in good faith
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with mayors, with premers, with chiefs,
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working in partnership and in synergy
2:00
with all levels of government leveraging
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federal lands. We will do that.
2:06
The honorable member for Bowmanville
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Mr. Speaker, Liberals have spent over
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$300 million on a housing program
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claiming they would build 4,000 units.
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In 7 years, they built 309.
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To put it bluntly, that's not close at
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all. They've missed the mark by 93%. So
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the question I have for the prime
2:29
minister is how can he continue to have
2:32
the minister responsible for this
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failure in his cabinet and how can he
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promote that failed minister to now be
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our minister of justice.
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The honorable minister of housing and
2:45
Thank you honorable speaker.
2:49
We have a great opportunity here to
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build housing. And when you look at the
2:53
pathetic performance of housing minister
2:56
Pierre Palv who delivered six
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affordable housing unit.
3:02
That's a great point.
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And zero in the city of Vancouver where
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That's a record that is deplorable. And
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that's a record that this government
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will never repeat. We are focused on
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The honorable member for Nimho Lady
3:19
On Vancouver Island, high prices are
3:22
pushing thousands of families and
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seniors out of the housing market.
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Meanwhile, the auditor general says
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government is sitting on empty office
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buildings and surplus land. They
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promised 4,000 homes through their
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signature housing initiative. After
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seven years, they've delivered a measly
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309. For this failure, the housing
3:43
minister has been promoted to the
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justice portfolio. There's no justice in
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that, Mr. Speaker. How can the prime
3:50
minister reward such failure while
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people in my writing are struggling to
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find a place to live?
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The honorable minister of housing and
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Thank you, honorable speaker. Well, I
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I'm very honored to be here as the new
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housing and infrastructure minister and
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to go forward with initiatives that will
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deliver affordable housing across
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Canada. And we will look for the support
4:14
of the members opposite. We will look
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for partnerships with all levels of
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government to deliver that. We use all
4:20
of the tools of the federal government
4:22
to deliver with Build Canada Homes. We
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have a lot of opportunities ahead of us.
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We've got to stay focused and working
4:31
the honorable member for Belichi.
4:34
Mr. Speaker, in 2017, the government
4:36
found that 50% of federal offices were
4:38
vacant or underutilized. The Liberals
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said they would cut that number in half
4:42
to create housing. Eight years later,
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the Auditor General has confirmed a less
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than 2% reduction. None of the 10
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properties promised in the capital have
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been transferred, and barely 309 of the
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4,000 housing units have been built.
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Once again, big talk but absolutely no
4:58
walk. Why is the Liberal government
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failing to deliver even when the need is
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so great and the money has already been
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The honorable minister for government
5:08
transformation. Thank you very much, Mr.
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Speaker. I'd like to thank the audit
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general for her report and we accept all
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of the recommendations therein to make
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sure that we meet our objectives when it
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comes to federal spaces and rental
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in the report. However, she also clearly
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ma maintains that we are on target for
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affordable housing. Thank you, Mr.
