gut environmental protection
threaten fisheries and other resources
cut public pensions and job standards
reduce democratic accountability
undermine public health care

The Conservatives rejected our NDP proposal to split this massive 425-page bill to permit study and debate. This is a blatant attempt to pass sweeping changes in one vote, without proper oversight or accountability. When he was Leader of the Opposition, Stephen Harper said omnibus budget bills were unprincipled. Now he does the same thing he used to criticized.

So as your Official Opposition, we are holding our own budget review sessions across Canada. And we want to hear from you. Go to http://budget2012.ndp.ca/ and let Stephen Harper know what you think!

Tonight I will talk a bit about urban issues, the issues that are deeply affecting big cities like Toronto. Toronto has, if we include the GTA, the greater Toronto area, about 5.5 million people, which represents roughly around 20% of Canada’s GDP. We have a multiplicity of human resources to draw from. About 50% of Canada’s new immigrants settle in the greater Toronto area and yet we are faced with some particular issues on which we have tried to get some engagement with the government side.

The government does like to invoke jurisdictional boundaries as its reason for inaction on certain urban files. We think that is unfortunate because if there were leadership and a will on the part of the government to really focus on a city’s agenda, then we could make some movement on some of these issues.

For example, notwithstanding all the numbers that the government likes to throw about at will, the issue of affordable housing in the city of Toronto has not been solved. In fact, it is an issue that is affecting not only low-income people, but it is also affecting middle-income Canadians as well. It is almost impossible for people to buy a house in the city of Toronto unless they have significant means and it is getting harder for families to find rental accommodations.

The government loves to say that it will let the free market handle these things, that the market will solve the issue of affordable housing in Toronto. I do not know how many years or how many decades it needs to finally realize that the market will not solve the affordable housing crisis that affects cities like Toronto and actually affects cities, small towns and rural municipalities across the country.

The government needs to take a much broader look at urban issues, issues of transit, issues of housing and issues of support for new Canadians. It has cut funding to immigrant settlement services in Toronto and yet 50% of the immigrants come to Toronto. That makes no sense to me and it makes no sense to most people who think about these things in a rational way.

I invite the government to take a more balanced approach to big cities.

I know the member opposite will stand and talk about all the wonderful things the government is doing but she needs to give Canadians a sense of how the government is solving the problem of affordable housing, of congestion, of historic traffic jams. We have one of the worst cases of gridlock occur daily in the GTA. We lose $5 billion in lost productivity due to gridlock.

I would love to hear the government finally, in a real way, enter a dialogue and talk about these issues.

Mrs. Shelly Glover (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC):Mr. Speaker, I have been in this place a couple of times now in late shows, addressing this exact same issue put forward by the NDP member. I must admit I am quite surprised the NDP member fails to ever recognize some of the steps forward this Conservative government has taken with regard to affordable housing. It really demonstrates some hypocrisy on behalf of the NDP when it does not do that. A number of measures have been put forward that have had an increased effect on affordable housing.

Rather than develop policies that would benefit Canadians in need of affordable housing, the NDP seems to be content to simply criticize the Conservative government’s diligent work on this file, which I do not really understand. Perhaps if the member for Davenport spent a little less time blindly criticizing the government’s actions and a bit more time familiarizing himself with what the government has done for Canadians in need of affordable housing, he would probably realize the absurdity of the comments he continues to make night after night.

Allow me to take some time to remind the member of what has been done.

Since 2006, under Canada’s economic action plan, our government has invested more than $2 billion to renovate and build new affordable housing across the country. Yes, in case the member is wondering, that includes the city of Toronto. In fact, I am happy to inform the member that an estimated 237,200 households in Ontario, living in existing affordable housing, receive this support.

What about the construction of new housing, one might ask. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation plays a pivotal role in ensuring that affordable housing continues to be an option for Canadians. By providing mortgage loan insurance for these projects, developers are able to access the cost-effective financing required to make these projects viable and affordable.

However, that is not all. Since 2006, our government, through CMHC, has invested an estimated $12.5 billion in federal housing assistance. Through these investments, the living conditions for thousands of low-income Canadians have been improved and stronger communities from coast to coast to coast have benefited in the process.

However, do not take my word for it. Let us hear what the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is saying about investments that this government has made to communities. It stated:

In the last few years, federal investments have helped municipalities put police on the streets, repair social housing and rebuild the roads, bridges, water systems and public transit Canada needs to support families, businesses and long-term economic growth.

Look at that. Municipalities from across the country are recognizing the positive contributions our government has made to affordable housing. One wonders why the NDP cannot do the same. For some reason, the NDP is content to repeatedly vote against these measures.

However, I may have figured it out. After all the good remarks by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, it is clear that the NDP simply votes against all of these measures because it really does not support measures that help families, businesses and long-term economic prosperity. It needs to think about this because Canadians count on all of us to ensure they are well taken care of, particularly in this area.

Mr. Andrew Cash:
Mr. Speaker, positive contributions mean that we are making a situation better. It means we are actually creating a climate where fewer people are on waiting lists for affordable housing. That is how one measures whether what one is doing works.

We can talk all we want about putting gaffers tape on roofs and call it repairs to housing, but we have to look at the number of Canadians on waiting lists for affordable housing across all municipalities and then factor in the millions of Canadians who are in need of core housing. Somewhere along the line the government has to accept the fact that whatever it thinks it is doing or says it is doing is not working and is not enough. Canadians need and deserve much better.

Mrs. Shelly Glover:
Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely impossible to take the NDP seriously on this issue and here is why.

Let us review the NDP record for a moment. It voted against providing $1.9 billion over five years beginning in September 2008 for the affordable housing initiative, the residential rehabilitation assistance program and the homelessness partnering strategy. It voted against providing $2.1 billion toward the construction and renovation of affordable housing units. It voted against $2 billion in low-cost loans to municipalities for projects, including affordable housing initiatives.

When the member stands in his place and asks us to talk about measures that actually show there were fewer low-income Canadians who were able to benefit from the measures put forward by this Conservative government, these were the measures that did exactly that. The member and his party voted against all of them.

The very first day of this Parliament, I rose in the House and asked the government where its housing strategy was. In particular, I asked when it would introduce a national housing strategy and, in the absence of one, whether it would like to get on side with the one we subsequently tabled in the House.

Every time I stood in the House to ask this question on behalf of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, I never received an answer. In fact, I will read the answer I received from the Minister of Finance one of the last times I asked a question on this. He said:

“Mr. Speaker, what is not to love in the mayor of Toronto? He is 300 pounds of fun, self-described by the mayor. I did not make that up.

The mayor is doing a wonderful job in Toronto. He is leading the transit reform charge and is straightening out the finances of the City of Toronto. It will be the ultimate great service for the taxpayers of that city to have control of the fiscal future of the City of Toronto, which has been mishandled for a long time.”

There was not a single mention of housing in that answer.

This is what happens time and time again, not just to me but to every member of the official opposition. Quite frankly, Canadians are getting very concerned about the lack of accountability and transparency of the government.

With respect to housing, the Canadian Federation of Municipalities has underlined the fact that housing is the number one issue facing municipalities, both big cities, small towns and rural municipalities. Access to affordable housing is becoming increasingly more difficult, not just for those in our society who struggle economically but also for those who were once called middle class. The government likes to say that it is on the side of working people, but the facts do not bear that out.

Approximately 1.5 million Canadians are in core housing need, of which 25% are single parent families. Time and time again we hear the government say that it is doing this or it is doing that. However, whatever it thinks it is doing, it is time for it to acknowledge and admit that its plan is not working.

We need a national housing strategy. We are the only G8 country that does not have one. How can that be good public management? How can that be a good social policy? It is certainly bad fiscal management, especially when we consider the multipliers that investments in housing bring into the economy.

The government’s decisions are ideological. It is time it started working for Canadians.

Mrs. Shelly Glover (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to stand here today to answer the hon. NDP member’s question. However, I have to indicate right off the bat that I am somewhat disappointed in the member for Davenport.

As he began his speech, he was very clear about reading a response from the Minister of Finance, but what he neglected to do is read his personal attack on the mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, a personal attack that does not meet the standard that the Leader of the Opposition has set for the NDP.

Nevertheless, I intend to answer the question about housing because I and this government take this serious issue to heart. Unfortunately, that member is displaying how he takes this issue and attempts to attack other politicians with it and neglects to admit that when he does it.

I would like to first tell Torontonians that the affordable housing situation is one that has been addressed by this government in a number of ways. As I talk about the ways that housing has been addressed, I would like to reflect on the record of the NDP.

Let us think back to the economic action plan and to the historic investments that our Conservative government made in social housing that totalled roughly $2 billion. Combined with provincial and territorial support, this joint investment in social housing allowed for the construction and renovation of 16,500 housing units for low-income families across Canada. This included over 400 construction projects for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities and over 11,000 existing social housing renovation projects. However, there is more.

Our Conservative government also invested $150 million to renovate and retrofit federally administered social housing, supporting over 1,310 projects that helped some of the most vulnerable in our communities: single-parent families, recent immigrants and aboriginal people living off reserve. We also invested $400 million to build and renovate housing in over 500 first nations communities. Let us not forget the $200 million in the north to address the territories’ housing needs, supporting over 200 projects.

Those are real investments, real projects helping real people and doing so right across Canada, including in Toronto. They are not empty rhetoric or theoretical strategies as suggested by the member opposite. These are real efforts, real commitments, real investments.

The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association states that Canada’s economic action plan:

—addresses important needs facing people living in run-down social housing and certain groups–seniors, on-reserve aboriginals and people with disabilities–waiting for decent, affordable housing.

Amazingly, the NDP stood and voted against all of these investments. That seems rather shocking, given all of the statements that get made about supporting social housing. However, Torontonians need to know that when it comes to supporting and putting our words into action, it is this Conservative government that actually gets the job done. The NDP members stand, but they only stand to vote against social housing measures, against investments for those who are most vulnerable.

I stand here proudly, supporting the government because of the actions it has taken. I ask the NDP to start to show some compassion and some effort here. Support the measures we are putting forward. It is for the sake of Torontonians after all.

Mr. Andrew Cash:
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about effort. We have tabled a national housing strategy. The Conservative government has not said a word about it. In fact, the government likes to compare us to OECD countries when it suits it. Yet this instance and others such as the national transit strategy are another glaring lack on the part of the government.

There is very little in this national housing strategy that any government could not buy into. One of the main points is that once this national housing strategy comes into law, it compels the minister to convene a meeting within 180 days. The government has 180 days to talk to major stakeholders, to the provinces, to municipalities, to those that provide social housing. It is a way for the government to do the job that Canadians expect their government to do, which is to plan and to prudently plan for the kind of housing Canadians need.

Mrs. Shelly Glover: Mr. Speaker, the member can play politics all he wants. That is his choice. We on this side remain focused on building a better Canada, and that includes the Toronto area.

Only recently we introduced economic action plan 2012. Our plan includes incredibly positive developments for Canada, and especially Toronto.

Furthermore, the action plan announces the creation of Canada’s first national near-urban park in the Rouge Valley in Toronto, something that has been incredibly welcomed. Listen to what Toronto city councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker had to say about it:

“…to see the prime minister and [finance minister]…saying loudly and clearly that they’ll protect this land is a dream come true for us.

What did the NDP and the member for Davenport do? Unfortunately, they voted against the Rouge Valley national park and against Toronto. That is unfortunate.

In other words, what happens in Toronto and how it happens matters except, it seems, to the Conservative government.

The GTA loses $6 billion a year due to gridlock and yet the government will not endorse the NDP’s national transit strategy. What is worse, it has not come up with its own plan.

In the midst of an affordable housing crisis, the government will not endorse the NDP’s national housing strategy. What is worse, it has not come up with its own plan.

When it comes to confusing voters about which polling station they should go to at election time, in that case the Conservatives come up with their own plan.

The NDP has come up with our own plans for housing and transit. Will Canadians have to wait until 2015 and an NDP government before they see real leadership for cities like Toronto?

Will the government commit today to finally take action and support the New Democrat national housing strategy?

Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, let us face it, for anyone who has been following, the NDP have been talking about this for years, but while they have been talking, we have been doing it.

We have signed a five-year agreement with the provinces and territories regarding affordable housing so they will have stable, predictable funding to deliver the housing that is within their mandate.

During the economic action plan, we also added quite a large amount of money for more affordable housing for seniors, the disabled and aboriginals. Over 14,000 projects for affordable housing were undertaken through that program. It is a real shame that the NDP did not support it.

Mr. Andrew Cash (Davenport, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I listen to the minister just about every day and it is clear that she does not understand that her plan is not working.

I will map it out just for Toronto. There are 70,000 households, some 200,000 people, on waiting lists for affordable housing. The backlog for repairs at Toronto Community Housing will be $1 billion by 2015. The government is doing nothing. It says a lot but does nothing.

Will the Conservatives commit today to supporting the New Democrats’ national housing strategy?

Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I would point out that there are several projects and initiatives we have undertaken to provide more affordable housing to those Canadians who need it, apart from the economic action plan and the 14,000 projects undertaken and completed across the country, which of course the NDP opposed. Since June 30 of last year, over 50,000 affordable housing units in Canada have been funded through this government.

While the NDP talk and oppose everything, we do it anyway.

The Conservatives are out of touch with Toronto but New Democrats know that we need a jobs creation plan and more affordable housing.

Are the Conservatives planning another do nothing budget that fails to get the job done for all places holy and decent like the great city of Toronto?

Hon. Ted Menzies (Minister of State (Finance), CPC): Mr. Speaker, finally a question on the economy. I am happy to respond to that, especially because of the fact that our last two budgets actually focused on jobs and the economy. Both of those budgets were opposed by the NDP that claimed to come late to the show in actually talking about jobs.

However, we will be bringing forward a budget in the very near future and that also will focus on jobs and the economy because that is important. That is what Canadians want to talk about, which is why we will continue on that plan.

When will the finance minister please stop the Ford love-in and get serious about reducing the huge lineups for affordable housing in Toronto?

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC): Mr. Speaker, what is not to love in the mayor of Toronto? He is 300 pounds of fun, self-described by the mayor. I did not make that up.

The mayor is doing a wonderful job in Toronto. He is leading the transit reform charge and is straightening out the finances of the City of Toronto. It will be the ultimate great service for the taxpayers of that city to have control of the fiscal future of the City of Toronto, which has been mishandled for a long time.

That is not going to help 70,000 Torontonians on affordable housing waiting lists. It is not going to help seniors trying to stay in their homes. It is not going to help middle-class Canadians trying to buy a house in Toronto. The Conservatives have simply failed Toronto.

How can the minister try to peddle a housing plan that her Minister of Finance will not even buy?

Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I am a bit confused. Today the hon. member is saying that he wants affordable housing and yet every time we have brought it forward, whether it is through the economic action plan, whether it is through our regular program, the five year agreement that we signed with the provinces and territories on affordable housing, he and his party have voted against every single initiative. That is almost 30,000 projects for the homeless and affordable housing he has voted against. Why is that?

What is the government saying to Canadians who are struggling to find an affordable, decent place to rent? It is saying, Sorry, if you are a renter, we do not care about you.

Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy of the NDP is growing by leaps and bounds from minute to minute. Through our economic action plan and beyond that, we have invested more than any other previous government in affordable housing. We have also supported CMHC, the only provider of mortgage securitization insurance for rental housing.

Fortunately, we have a market right now where interest rates are low. People are buying houses. They are investing in their future because they can finally afford to do it. As with all of the other initiatives including affordable housing, the NDP voted against all of our moves to support Canadians.

Therefore, here is a low-tax plan for the Minister of Finance. Why does he not make life more affordable for Canadians and cut the federal tax on home heating?

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member was not here at the time, but some of the members of the NDP were here when we promised Canadians back in 2006 that we would reduce the GST by two points. Then we came to this place and in our first budgets we proposed reducing the GST by two points for the entire country. Who voted against it? All the members of the NDP.

Those members have a lot of nerve coming here talking about tax reductions. They do not believe in them. They just talk about it. However, when the times comes to vote, they are not there.