NDP-Liberal Coalition Votes Against Conservative Housing Motion
Plus foreign interference targets the family of a Canadian MP, updates on Liberal gun confiscation program, and more
NDP-Liberal Coalition Votes Against Conservative Housing Motion
Opposition motions are days when opposition parties get to set the agenda for a day of debate in Parliament. At the end of these debates there is always a vote in Parliament on the issue. They can order documents to be provided, criticize decisions, call for action by a government, or demand of government witnesses be forced to testify or even create new parliamentary committees. There are few issues more important today than the housing crisis. The impacts are profound, from those entering the workforce finding their wages are not sufficient to save for a home and those in the market unable to move up as their family situation changes.
Since the Prime Minister took office in 2015, the average cost of a mortgage payment has doubled, from $1,400 a month to more than $3,000 a month. The average cost of rent in major Canadian cities has doubled, from $1,100 to over $2,000 every month. The average required minimum down payment for a house in Canada has doubled, from $22,000 to $45,000. Home prices have doubled since 2015 across the country, sometimes close to tripling in the major cities. Massive government deficits and inflationary spending have resulted in higher interest rates leading in turn to higher mortgage rates. The Liberal government has put $89 billion into housing programs, yet things have simply gotten worse. The more the Liberal government spends, the more it costs you the citizen and taxpayer.
This week, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre introduced an opposition motion calling upon the government to take action, providing a roadmap of policy ideas that would directly address the lack of home supply in cities, reduce regulatory bottlenecks in zoning rules and incentivize pro-construction decision-making. While our ideas were voted down, they will continue to form the foundation of the conservative plan for the next federal election to restore housing affordability in Canada. Doing what the Liberals have done for the past eight years has led to a doubling of housing costs and doubling of rents – that’s a record of failure we cannot ignore.
A Conservative government under Pierre Poilievre will remove the gatekeepers and do the following:
(1) Link the number of dollars big cities get for infrastructure to the number of houses that actually get built, fining those who block construction
(2) Provide building bonuses to those who speed up and lower the cost of permits to build more
(3) Make it mandatory for every federally funded transit station to have high-density housing on available land around the station.
(4) Sell 6,000 federal buildings to convert them into affordable housing for young people to live in.
(5) Speed up immigration for building trades, shifting education dollars to numerous trades professions to uplift the working class.
Foreign Interference Hits Closer to Home
In prior newsletters, I have long warned about the danger the People’s Republic of China poses to Canada. A rising, authoritarian world power, the Beijing government has become more aggressive in its diplomacy. It has been challenging democratic values and the international order for the first time since the fall of another authoritarian regime, the communist Soviet Union. In the recent past, Canada has been both the target of unfair trading practices by China targeting our agricultural sector with sanctions, and more famously targets of hostage diplomacy when Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were unjustly detained. The relationship with China’s government in Beijing has been on the rocks for years and the soft touch response of the Liberal government has been criticized for inviting further government-to-government abuse.
Recent allegations that the Beijing government interfered in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021, along with attempts to buy access to the Prime Minister directly through the Trudeau Foundation, were concerning and media reports continued to reveal new details. New reports have now surfaced indicating that the family of a Member of Parliament have been subjected to an intimidation campaign by Beijing diplomats based in a Toronto consulate. Following Parliament’s vote declaring Beijing’s oppression of Uyghurs to be a genocide in February 2021, Beijing officials sought information on Conservative MP Michael Chong’s relatives for further sanctions and “to make an example” of the MP, according to Canada’s intelligence agency known as CSIS. This was carried out by a Beijing diplomat based in Toronto, Zhao Wei, who remains employed there to this day. The Liberal government was aware of this intelligence and did nothing to inform MP Chong about the threats to his family for two years. Additionally, several days have gone by and the Liberal government has not taken any decisive steps to expel the offending diplomat, despite indications from CSIS that the Vienna Convention on the protection and immunities of diplomats has been violated. Details continue to emerge that CSIS had informed the national security advisor to the Prime Minister and that the public safety minister had been aware of the intelligence for two years, doing nothing to inform MP Chong. This is an abdication of leadership by the Prime Minister. If the Liberal government will not take actions to protect parliamentarians and their families from foreign intimidation, then how can any Canadian citizen expect their government to do the same for them? No MP or Senator should fear a foreign government’s actions on our territory when taking a vote in Parliament. It is unacceptable that the Liberal government knew of this information and did nothing. The open, independent public inquiry into the Beijing’s activities in Canada must happen now. Check out this important interview with MP Michael Chong explaining in his own words the facts he is aware of and what he has learned from CSIS at a recent security briefing he received after the story broke.
New amendments to Liberal government’s firearm confiscation Bill C-21
This week, the public safety minister announced new amendments to the Liberal government’s firearm confiscation. Known as Bill C-21, it will create a definition by which new firearms will be prohibited or banned. While it would not apply to the classification of existing firearms in the Canadian market, the Minister announced the creation of a “Firearms Advisory Committee” that will determine the future bans of firearms presently owned by law abiding Canadian firearm owners. This is simply old wine in a new bottle. The “new” Liberal definition is the same as the old one and the same hunting firearms will likely be added to the list of future confiscations and banning by the new “advisory panel”. Canadians should not be fooled by the Liberal government’s words.
Previously, the public safety minister had claimed that the definition promoted by him and Liberal MPs would remove dangerous legal firearms off our streets and that they were an immediate threat. This week, with his latest announcement, he walked back on those words and grandfathered all firearms currently in circulation in Canada. They cannot be both a present and current threat while at the same time declared legal and open to civilian ownership by virtue of being grandfathered in. His actions are an admission that legal firearms ownership was never the problem and that he was either committing a grave error or lying about his motivations. Furthermore, the Prime Minister has been clear from the beginning that he wanted to prohibit, ban and confiscate some current hunting rifles. That remains his position and one he has never changed. The new definition leaves open for firearms like the World War I Lee-Enfield open to future confiscation, despite being a bolt action firearm favoured by hunters in Canada. There are numerous other examples that should continue to worry the millions of lawful firearms owners who already respect all of Canada’s gun control laws.
Here are the facts: in the eight years since the Prime Minister took office, violent crime has increased by 32%, and gang-related murders have doubled. Instead of going after the illegal guns used by criminals and street gangs, the Liberal government is focused on taking hunting rifles and shotguns from law-abiding farmers, hunters and Indigenous peoples. Bad policy won’t fix a violent crime surge. Conservatives stand against Bill C-21 and will bring home real policies to keep repeat violent offenders in jail and keep Canadians safe.
Meeting with MS Society
May is MS Awareness Month in Canada. I recently had the opportunity to meet with representatives from MS Society in Canada to discuss how federal government policy can be more supportive for patients. It has been a great honour during my time as a parliamentarian to advocate for patient groups and for patients with rare diseases.
