Parliament Returns Fall 2023
Discover more from Resuming Debate
Parliament Returns Fall 2023
Plus the government wastes $284 million on new passports, upcoming town hall, update on the summer, and more
Parliament Returns Fall 2023
Welcome back to Resuming Debate! As Parliament resumes after a long summer, Conservatives have geared up to continue the fight to bring back common-sense policies for Canada.
Here’s what happened this week:
On Monday, the Prime Minister announced that there were credible allegations tying the government of India to the killing of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre released a statement on the matter, you can read it here: (link)
On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine spoke to Parliament, thanking Canada for its support over the past 18 months following the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. Canada has a special relationship with Ukraine thanks to the people to people ties with over a million Canadians with Ukrainian heritage, the business ties from the free trade deal signed in 2014, and the relationship we have been building with their national institutions to restore them after the vandalism of the Soviet occupation. As long friends, Canada stands with Ukraine as they continue to fight for their lives and country, and I continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in resisting the aggression of the Russian Federation.
As Parliament resumes, Conservatives have hit the ground running, proposing 6 new Private Members Bills ranging on important issues of housing, crime, foreign hostage takers, and others. We are ready to bring it home for Canadians.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre introduces the ‘Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act’.
After 8 years of the Liberal government, housing costs have more than doubled in Canada. Before the Prime Minister was elected, it took 25 years to pay off a mortgage. Now, it takes 25 years just to save up for a down payment. Toronto is the world’s worst housing bubble, and Vancouver is now considered more unaffordable than New York and Singapore, an island. We are not building homes fast enough. The Prime Minister’s policies have failed Canadians. However, hope is coming. This week, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre made public in Parliament his housing legislation titled the ‘Building Homes Not Bureaucracy’ Act, which puts forward eight policies that aim to increase housing supply and reduce home prices.
The ‘Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act’ will do the following:
Require cities to build more homes and speed up the rate at which they build homes every year to meet our housing targets. Cities must increase the number of houses built by 15% each year, and then 15% on top of the previous target every single year (it compounds). If targets are missed, cities will have to catch up in the following years and build even more homes, or a percentage of their federal funding will be withheld, equivalent to the percentage they missed their target by.
Cities that exceed that target will get bonus funding; cities that miss it will have their funding reduced.
It also requires that federal transit funding provided to certain cities won’t arrive until those stations are surrounded by high-density residential buildings.
Impose a NIMBY penalty on big city gatekeepers for egregious cases of NIMBYism.
We will empower Canadians to file complaints about NIMBYism with the federal infrastructure department. When complaints are legitimate, we will withhold infrastructure and transit dollars until municipalities allow homes to be built.
It ensures that Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation executives cannot receive bonuses unless housing targets are met, and applications for new construction are approved within 60 days.
In addition, the law provides a 100% GST rebate on new residential rental property for which the rent payable is below market rate. This will be funded using dollars from the failed Liberal Housing Accelerator fund.
This bill also requires the housing minister to report on the inventory of federal buildings and land, to identify land suitable for housing construction and to propose a plan to sell at least 15 percent of any federal buildings and land that would be appropriate for housing construction and for him to place these properties on the market within eighteen months.
These are common-sense solutions that will address the housing crisis the Liberals have created. Conservatives will bring homes Canadians can afford.
$284 million passport debacle
Government wastes continues and continues. Remember those ugly new passports that wiped out prominent Canadian landmarks including pivotal events in our history, such as the Vimy Ridge Memorial and great Canadian Terry Fox? Well, the Liberal government now admits that it took $284 million to produce, seven years after they started. It took three full years for the government to bid out the contract. This after eight years of basic services not being delivered and a worsening cost-of-living crisis. What a shocking waste of resources. Do you think it was worth it? Let me know by emailing me at the link below.
Summer Update
Speaking to constituents and hearing your concerns is a big part of the job over the summer. At coffee meetups, stampede breakfasts, business tours and other events, I heard many of the same concerns about the cost-of-living crisis that continues unabated. The price increases in housing, groceries, gas, and many other essentials are adding ever-increasing burdens on Canadians’ wallets. As Parliament resumes, I will bring your concerns and feedback to Ottawa and work with my colleagues to hold the government to account.
Upcoming Town Hall on the cost-of-living crisis
On October 11, I will be hosting a town hall with former Liberal MP Dan McTeague, a whiz about energy policy in Canada and a strong critic of the Liberal government. He is President of Canadians for Affordable Energy and is the brains behind the gaswizard.ca website that tracks gasoline prices in Canada. We will speak about the carbon tax, policies to promote Alberta’s energy sector, and many other issues. I hope to see you there!
