Tako Van Popta
Langley Township—Fraser Heights, British Columbia · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the appeal process in British Columbia is going to take years. In the meantime, homeowners in Richmond, British Columbia, and throughout the province are feeling insecure. Here is the reality in the subject territory in Richmond.”
“Mr. Speaker, in Cowichan Tribes v. the Attorney General of Canada, the B.C. Supreme Court declared aboriginal title over private lands, and the private landowners, 150 of them, are worried.”
“Madam Speaker, earlier in debate tonight, we heard from the Liberal side of the House suggesting that anybody who was opposed to Bill C‑22 was fearmongering and spreading misinformation. However, the very rational debate coming from the member for Vancouver East would suggest otherwise.”
“Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her speech on this self-government agreement, which she says could inform future agreements. There is the Musqueam recognition rights agreement in Vancouver, which has become very controversial.”
“Mr. Speaker, while the high-flying Prime Minister is racking up a $1-million debt for luxury inflight catering, many Canadians are struggling just to put food on the table.”
“Mr. Speaker, earlier in the debate today, we heard the minister say that this agreement is a model to inform future treaties, yet the most recent treaty, the K'ómoks Treaty, which my colleague also mentioned, introduces the concept of UNDRIP, a foreign document. This is not made in Canada.”
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Every one of 218 lines we hold for Tako Van Popta, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 5.
“Madam Speaker, new housing construction starts in my area, the Lower Mainland, are down. There might be a bit of a blip up right now. I am not quite sure exactly what the latest trends are. A combination of bad legislation from both the federal government and the provincial NDP government has not been helping. We just wish the government would stay out of the way and encourage private enterprise to take care of the housing problem. I think it would happen in a balanced economy.”
“Madam Speaker, there the member for Winnipeg North goes again saying the Liberal government is a whole new government. No, it is not. It has the same old ideas, just recycled and repackaged, and somehow it is expecting Canadians to believe that this time, finally, it has the solutions. If we talk about housing, housing prices have doubled in the 10 years of the Liberals' regime. What is so different today that Canadians can have confidence that it is going to be different? We are not impressed with the half measures of the bill.”
“We will be looking for other initiatives from the government to take big, bold steps to take serious action to improve Canada's economy and affordability for Canadians. Is this the government that is going to do it? The Liberals keep saying, “Well, it is a new government.” I look at the benches on the opposite side and see many of the old faces. We are certainly hearing the old rhetoric. We are hearing old ideas being recycled, and I am not confident that this is the party or the government that is going to show us a big turnaround in Canada's economy.”
“Investment dollars are going to go where there is a good return on investment with a minimal risk. We have seen governments, both provincial and federal, tackling the perceived real estate market by sometimes making it more difficult and less attractive to invest in real estate, “Let us increase capital gains taxes.” Other times, we see the government doing exactly the opposite, as we see it doing here today, making it easier to invest in housing, “Let us give homeowners a GST break.” The Conservatives do not disagree with that. We ran on axing the tax, including income tax, carbon tax and GST, on new homes, but we are not impressed with the half measures we see in this bill.”
“The best thing for the federal government to do to improve affordability for Canadians is to create an environment that encourages more private investment in innovation. However, the 10-year record of Liberal governments show quite the opposite. Here is what the recent OECD report says about Canada's investment environment: non-residential investment is dead last in the OECD; intellectual property investment is second to last; machinery and equipment, or in other words, improving our factories to be more innovative, efficient and productive, is dead last; real estate, on the other hand, is near the top. This is the Canadian story: Do not invest in innovative factories, new inventions and intellectual property; invest in real estate. I do not blame real estate investors for doing that.”
“Interest rates are up 2% since the last time they renewed or secured their interest rate. That works out to about $830 every month. Would this family welcome a tax break of $800? Yes, of course it would. It would help them for one month. The trouble is, there are 11 more months in the year, so the help really does not go very far at all. It is a half measure. I am here to say that there is a better way for the government to do this to really make life more affordable, and that is to grow the economy and create a sustainable environment where wages can go up without creating inflation. This is what the economists have been telling us and what the former finance minister and the Bank of Canada recognize. The government does not seem to get that idea.”
“Conservatives generally support lower taxes, less government, more free market initiatives and more competition, because free market competition makes us more profitable, makes us stronger, makes us more resilient and makes us more productive. That allows for higher wages for hard-working Canadians so they can afford to live. (1320) However, I want to look at this tax break in perspective. I did not do the math myself, but it has been said that it is going to result in roughly $800 in savings for the average Canadian family. If I take the average Canadian family in my riding of Langley Township—Fraser Heights, which might have a mortgage on their house of half a million dollars, and that is completely conceivable with starter homes being around $1 million, we can say that they have to renew their mortgage.”
“Canada's natural disadvantage in having dispersed and relatively small markets has to be countered by making sure regulatory barriers are as low as possible, including those restricting domestic trade.... I agree with all of that. Getting rid of regulatory barriers is what we have been saying all along for the last two or three years on the Conservative side. We have said to get government gatekeepers out of the way; let free enterprise unleash it. Unfortunately, this draft bill does not talk about anything like that. It does not talk about reducing red tape. It does not talk about improving productivity. There are actions the government could take that would lead to permanent and sustainable affordability. That is what it is after, but it is not achieving that. The bill does talk about lowering taxes and we do not disagree with that.”
“But an economy with strong productivity can have faster growth, more jobs and higher wages with less risk of inflation. That's why I want to talk about Canada's long-standing, poor record on productivity and show you just how big the problem is. You've seen those signs that say, “In emergency, break glass.” Well, it’s time to break the glass. This is an emergency. It was an emergency then. It continues to be an emergency today. The OECD, in a report that came out just last month, had this to say about Canada's economy: The level of Canada’s labour productivity lags its peers and the current trade tensions with the United States is likely to compound it. Revamping the country’s productivity growth requires a combination of policy actions.”
“Here we are, three years later, with the same phraseology, but nothing has happened; nothing has improved. This is what she had to say in her 2022 budget: But we are falling behind when it comes to economic productivity. Productivity matters because it is what guarantees the dream of every parent—that our children will be more prosperous than we are. This is a well-known Canadian problem—and an insidious one. It is time for Canada to tackle it. It is not just the Liberal minister of finance who was saying that. Just as recently as a year ago, Carolyn Rogers of the Bank of Canada had this to say about productivity: [It] is a way to inoculate the economy against inflation. An economy with low productivity can grow only so quickly before inflation sets in.”
“Canadians have been working harder than ever but are not getting ahead. As a matter of fact, we are in a de facto recession if we measure GDP on a per capita basis. Yes, our GDP continues to grow, very slowly, very gradually, but below the rate of immigration. More people are working, but not as productively as they should be. That is not their fault. The Liberal government has been mismanaging the economy for all these years, focusing more on distributing wealth rather than on creating new wealth. This has led to a decade of deficit spending, money printing, inflation, high interest rates and anemic economic growth. That is the challenge. This is not just Conservatives talking. I want to quote the former Liberal minister of finance's 2022 budget, which, incidentally, was called “A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable”.”
“Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to the making life more affordable for Canadians act. This act was made necessary by a decade of economic mismanagement by the Liberal government. Why are things unaffordable for Canadians? Well, inflation is up. Let us take a look at the cost of groceries, which is at 3.8% inflation year over year, according to Stats Canada's April figures, which is twice the aggregate inflation for the same period for the whole economy per the consumer price index. As to the cost of housing, in the 10 years of the Liberal government, so far housing costs have doubled for both renters and buyers. That is way above the consumer price index. With interest rates going up, it is becoming even more difficult. What is not up is wages. Wages have not been keeping up with inflation.”
“Mr. Speaker, earlier in the debate today, we heard the Minister of Finance say that he wants to make Canada the “strongest economy in the G7”. It was pointed out to him that Canada's productivity metrics are lagging behind those of our major trading partners, particularly the United States of America. Does the member see anything in this bill that is going to improve our productivity numbers? Why should Canadians have confidence in the tired, old Liberal government, which has been promising this for years?”
“Madam Speaker, the Canadian dream is to own a home, but that dream has been shattered for so many young families. Those who own a home are now facing higher mortgage payments due to higher interest rates caused by 10 years of the Liberal government's mismanagement of the economy. According to a recent CMHC report, 63% of Canadian homeowners are worried about defaulting on their mortgages, and 17% have actually missed mortgage payments. Will the Minister of Housing acknowledge that the Liberal government has totally mismanaged the housing file?”
“Madam Speaker, the minister says he wants Canada's economy to be the strongest in the G7. He must realize that we are lagging way behind our trading partners. The OECD report says, “The level of Canada's labour productivity lags its peers”, and Carolyn Rogers of the Bank of Canada said just last year that our productivity metrics is in crisis: “it's an emergency—it's time to break the glass.” The minister's predecessor, back in 2022, said that Canada's productivity challenges are an “insidious” problem. Does the minister really think that, after 10 years of recycled Liberal ideas, they finally they have the solution?”
“Mr. Speaker, the member highlighted the Liberal government's latest housing crisis solution as building more prefab homes. In metro Vancouver, where my riding is, we built 20-storey and 30-storey high-rise towers close to transit stations. The hard part in urban development is land assembly, rezoning applications and putting in the civil services. How is prefab housing going to solve that problem?”
“I thank them for bringing the best of the Philippines to Canada and making it part of our Canadian cultural fabric. Together we are Canada, the true north strong and free.”
“Mr. Speaker, what was meant as a celebration of culture and heritage turned into a moment of unspeakable sorrow. On April 26, the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver, a symbol of Filipino unity and pride, was shattered by an act of senseless violence. Many lives were taken, many more injured. Families were torn apart. Dreams were cut short and a community was left grieving, but in the face of all this darkness, we see the Filipino community being strong and resilient, coming together, grieving together and sharing with each other. Today we stand in solidarity. To the Filipino community, we see them. We mourn with them and we stand with them. We know they will continue to celebrate the richness of their culture, traditions and history, as they should.”