Scott Aitchison
Parry Sound—Muskoka, Ontario · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, the member just described what happens in a recession. The fact is that Canadians need results. This Prime Minister promised results.”
“Mr. Speaker, where are the results? The Prime Minister promised to double the pace of housing construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year, but his own budget watchdog said his new $13-billion housing agency will build only about 5,000 homes. The CMHC's chief economist pointed this week to “weaker momentum for future supply”.”
“Mr. Speaker, what I find most troubling about this particular bill is that it is not too dissimilar from the government's Build Canada Homes creation, an agency created with $13 billion, with zero targets, zero metrics and no transparency. Nobody knows how it is really supposed to work or what it is going to do.”
“Mr. Speaker, home builders and homebuyers in Ontario are still waiting for the federal government to finalize the regulations to permit them to rebate the HST on all new homes. This is creating more confusion and uncertainty in the market, and it is leaving both buyers and builders in limbo.”
“Mr. Speaker, the fundamental difference between that member and me is that I recognize the importance of getting things done. Conservatives have proposed all along that we use federal dollars as leverage to make sure that municipalities are getting the job done.”
“What it did was adopt projects that were already years in the making and already well under way. If the Liberals slap a new corporate logo on the side of a train that has left a station and is moving down the track and then claim they built the engine, that is ridiculous. It is rebranding.”
The complete record
Every one of 156 lines we hold for Scott Aitchison, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 4.
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians are being crushed by the housing crisis. The Liberals' own internal documents admit that housing now eats up 52% of household income. Mortgage delinquencies are at a record high. Families cannot keep up, young people cannot get in and the Liberal government will not show us a plan. A budget is a plan. While Canadians suffer, the Liberals refuse to present a budget that will solve the housing crisis. My question is very simple: Why?”
“Mr. Speaker, I heard the member speak about the supply side of housing and the importance of that. He bragged about the government's various different programs. I wonder if he would acknowledge, though, that one of the key flaws in the government's housing accelerator program is that in the larger centres that were getting huge sums of money, those cities were also increasing the cost to build homes. If we have a housing crisis in this country, we have to acknowledge that it is a cost of housing crisis. Why would the government give money to cities that are raising the cost to build homes?”
“Mr. Speaker, tax relief is certainly welcome, and it is, frankly, long overdue from the government, but the bigger tax cuts that its members are talking about will save families $70 a month. We are dealing with families that are looking at $5,000-a-month mortgages or more. Equifax is reporting that the mortgage delinquencies in Ontario are at the highest level ever recorded; they are up 70%. This is not a coincidence. It is certainly not a surprise. Instead of building a third federal housing bureaucracy, why do we not just get more homes built?”
“Mr. Speaker, the sale of new homes in the GTA just hit a seventh straight month of record-setting lows. Only 310 new homes were sold in the GTA in April, which is a 72% drop over last year and an 89% drop in the 10-year average, with condo sales plummeting 94%. The report warns that there will be a massive housing shortage in two years. Prices are too high for buyers, and they are too low for sellers. Can the Prime Minister tell us what he plans to do to help the buyers who cannot afford to buy and the sellers who cannot afford to sell?”
“Today, I want to reassure all the people of Parry Sound—Muskoka that I am here to advocate for them and to ensure their voice is heard in this House, their House of Commons. They have placed their trust in me, and I promise to earn that trust every single day.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am humbled to rise today to thank the incredible people of Parry Sound—Muskoka, who placed their trust in me to represent them here in this House for the third time. This seat, of course, does not belong to me; it belongs to the people I serve. From the majestic French River in the north to the historic Trent-Severn Waterway in the south, from the rugged shores of Georgian Bay to the heights of Algonquin Park, it is an honour to serve the people who call our magnificent region home. Throughout the election, I heard from countless people about the issues that are important to them: the cost of living, safety in our streets, protecting hunters' rights and, of course, the outrageous price of homes.”