Vincent Ho
Richmond Hill South, Ontario · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, when I speak to my constituents, a lot of the concerns they talk about have to do with the affordability crisis and the housing hell the Liberal government has created after 11 years in power.”
“The PBO also warned that repeated spending increases beyond previous projections will “erode the credibility of fiscal plans and weaken confidence in the fiscal framework and raise concerns about long-term [debt] sustainability.” That is the exact credibility crisis that this Liberal Prime Minister finds himself in, because a fiscal ancho…”
“The only thing we know is that this brand new bureaucracy is staffed with Liberal insiders and executives who are collecting salaries as high as $700,000 a year. This reflects a classic principal-agent problem. Taxpayers are the principals, while Liberal government institutions and their corporate insiders are the agents.”
“That should alarm every member of the House. It is not only the PBO. The International Monetary Fund, the IMF, a global agency that the Liberals love to cite, has now called on Canada to adopt international accounting standards to improve transparency, ensure comparability over time and maintain a clear connection between borrowing and de…”
“Mr. Speaker, when historians study the fiscal decline of nations, they often note that collapse rarely begins with a dramatic event. It begins with habits: habits of indiscipline, habits of euphemism, habits of pretending that borrowing is prosperity, that inflationary spending is strategy and that accounting definitions can be stretched…”
“The Liberals already have the Infrastructure Bank, the growth fund and the defence bank. They have agency after agency, fund after fund and office after office, and the result is that Canada still has the worst investment performance in the G7. This is textbook government failure.”
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“Mr. Speaker, the Islamic Republic of Iran jails dissidents, massacres its own people, exports terror and is formally listed by Canada as a state sponsor of terrorism, yet just last week, the Liberals backed the regime in Iran for a seat on the UN Committee for Programme and Coordination, a body that helps shape policy on human rights, women's rights, disarmament and terrorism prevention. Canadians are wondering why the Liberal government is elevating a murderous, terrorist regime at the United Nations. Conservatives are asking again, why are the Liberals and their Liberal UN appointee legitimizing the ayatollahs, and is this really where the Prime Minister 's values stand?”
“Mr. Speaker, yes, it would affect everyone across the country, including residents in my riding of Richmond Hill South, whether that is in lower food prices, lower transportation costs or a lower price to pay at the pump. Instead of focusing on delivering on solutions to address the affordability challenges the Liberal government has caused, the Liberal government is laser-focused on trying to stitch together a Liberal majority government through dirty backroom deals that Canadians did not vote for and to overcome the power of the people. The Liberal government should be focused on Canadians rather than on dirty backroom deals.”
“Mr. Speaker, this is not deficit spending. This is taking from the windfall that Ottawa is receiving from elevated oil prices. The Liberal government is not returning that money, which belongs to Canadians, and putting it in the pockets of Canadians at a time of an affordability crisis. Even for people who do not drive or take public transit, fuel tax still affects the price they pay at the grocery store. Just last week, we learned that a major food producer is now slapping a fuel surcharge on all the food they are selling in bulk. Eventually that is going to make its way to the prices at the grocery store. Conservatives are calling on the Liberal government to do the right thing and scrap the 25¢-a-litre tax on gas for the rest of 2026.”
“Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are calling for the permanent scrapping of Liberal taxes. That includes the 10¢ federal excise tax and the GST on top of all those taxes, and the Liberals' so-called clean fuel standard tax. Let us not forget that the 25¢-a-litre tax, the removal of which we are calling for, is a Liberal made-in-Ottawa problem. It cannot just be blamed on global oil prices. This is a time when Canadians are facing an affordability challenge. Two million Canadians are relying on food banks, and 700,000 of them are children. As well, food prices are expected to rise by about $1,000 for a family this year. Conservatives are providing real solutions. Will the Liberals support this?”
“The Liberal Prime Minister told Canadians he would bring serious economic leadership and reverse the damage of the last Liberal prime minister, but Canadians here at home are still waiting while costs rise, while wages fall behind and while their government looks at their problem. Canadians have been pinching their pennies long enough. It is time for the Liberal government to pinch its own. Other countries understand this. Australia, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria have all moved to cut fuel taxes to provide direct relief at the pump. Behind every statistic is a real person here at home, working hard, doing everything right and still falling behind. The mother of two working two jobs should not need a pay raise just to fill up her tank.”
“Let us take a step back and look at the broader picture. After a decade of Liberal government, Canada is falling behind here at home. The OECD reports persistent weakness in business investment, GDP growth is projected to decline this year and, since 2015, Canada's GDP growth rates have lagged behind the United States. A recent report shows that business investment adjusted for inflation and labour force growth has declined since its 2014 peak. More than half of Canadians are not living in their ideal home, mortgage affordability continues to worsen across the country and young people are being completely priced out. This is not a blip. It is a pattern. Here at home, Canadians are facing higher costs, lower growth and fewer opportunities and now, instead of course correcting, the Liberal government is doubling down.”
“It is starting to sound a whole lot like the Liberal consumer carbon tax. On top of that, the Liberal industrial carbon tax is rising to $170 per tonne, costing workers over $1,100 per year, shrinking the economy by 1.3% and putting 50,000 Canadian jobs at risk. These are the real consequences of Liberal ideology. The Liberals can provide immediate relief to everyday Canadians by scrapping the Liberal industrial carbon tax and suspending the punishing 25¢ per litre of tax on gas, including the Liberal fuel standard tax for all of 2026. Canada's affordability crisis is not an unintended consequence of global factors. This is the predictable result of deliberate Liberal policy choices here at home, choices that prioritize ideology over affordability and treat working Canadians as a revenue source rather than people to serve.”
“Food banks are now seeing over two million visits per month, including from 700,000 children. A family of four is expected to spend $17,500 on food this year, which is $1,000 more than last year. Canada has become the food inflation capital of the G7, and that is not a title to be proud of. That is a warning sign, and it is directly linked to the policies of the Liberal government here at home. According to a recent academic study, the Liberal industrial carbon tax is undermining the competitiveness of our agri-food sector and has contributed to food prices rising 48% faster in Canada than in the United States. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that the Liberals' so-called clean fuel regulations alone are adding seven cents per litre this year, rising to 17¢ per litre by 2030.”
“Canadians across the country are noticing. They notice it every time they see a higher total at the pump, every time a delivery fee goes up and every time the grocery bill climbs even higher, because rising fuel prices do not stay at the pump. They spread through the entire economy. When transportation costs rise, suppliers raise their prices. We are already seeing it. Just last week, we learned that food producers are now introducing these new fuel surcharges on top of the food products they sell. When suppliers raise their prices, grocers pass those costs on. When that happens, families here at home pay more. Elevated fuel and transportation costs are compounding the affordability crisis faced by families after more than a decade of Liberal policies.”
“(1145) Stacked together on top of one another, these Liberal taxes add up. They are crushing. When we remove them, Canadians will save about 25¢ per litre on gasoline and 21¢ per litre on diesel. That is about $20 every time a parent fills up a minivan. On average, that is more than $1,200 back in the pockets of a family of four by the end of the year. That is money for groceries and rent, and much-needed breathing room. Here is a key point. The Liberal government can afford to do the right thing, but it is choosing not to. Why will the Liberal government not borrow our Conservative ideas and provide immediate relief for Canadians here at home by scrapping all gas taxes and its beloved Liberal industrial carbon tax? Right now, the priority of the Liberal government is clear. It is to take more, give less and hope Canadians do not notice.”
“Here is the question. The Liberal government is making billions more because Canadians are paying more. Why is it not giving all of that money back and suspending all gas taxes for the rest of 2026? Conservatives are offering a clear, practical and immediate answer. Take $5 billion of that windfall to Ottawa and give it back to Canadians by removing all federal taxes on gasoline and diesel until the end of 2026, not next year, not after another study, but right now. That means suspending the 10¢-per-litre federal excise tax. It means suspending the GST on fuel, which puts about eight cents per litre on gasoline and four cents per litre on diesel. It means permanently eliminating the so-called Liberal clean fuel standard tax, which is already costing Canadians seven cents per litre and is set to rise to 17¢ per litre.”
“That difference is not geography. It is not geopolitics. It is not destiny. It is a homegrown, made-in-Ottawa Liberal tax policy. It is the result of a Liberal government that has layered tax on top of tax on top of tax and expects Canadians to just absorb it. While Canadians here at home are struggling with higher prices, the Liberal government is enjoying a windfall. According to a former Liberal economic adviser, every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil generates about $2 billion in additional federal revenue in Ottawa's coffers. In recent weeks, oil prices are roughly $45 to $50 higher than the pre-war baseline. When we crunch the numbers, that is close to $9 billion to $10 billion in additional revenue flowing into Ottawa's coffers, money that is coming directly from the higher costs here at home that Canadians are paying.”
“In Canada, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have people who cannot afford to fill their tank, not because of laziness, not because of poor choices, but because the Liberal government in Ottawa is piling taxes on top of rising global prices. That is wrong. It is economically wrong. It is morally wrong. It is fiscally unsustainable. Canadians deserve a break. That is why Conservatives are calling on the Liberal government to scrap the 25¢ per litre on gas for all of 2026, not just simply to meet us halfway. Let us talk about some of the facts. Yes, global events like the conflict in the Middle East have driven up oil prices. That explains part of the increase. It does not explain why Canadians here at home are paying about 28¢ a litre more for fuel than Americans do just south of the border.”
“While the Liberal Prime Minister is following gas prices, Canadians here at home are falling behind. Every day of delay is another day families fall further behind. I want to tell the House about a woman I met in my riding of Richmond Hill South, a mother who works two jobs, one during the day and one on weekends. She does everything right. She budgets. She saves where she can. She does not ask for handouts. She only asks for a fair shot. Last week, she told me that filling up her car now costs her nearly $100. That is not a luxury vehicle. That is a basic car that gets her to work and gets her kids to school. She told me that she does not look at the total anymore, that she just stops when she cannot afford to keep going. Think about that for a moment.”
“When fuel costs rise, everything else rises, and yet while Canadians here at home are paying more, Ottawa's coffers are taking in more. The Liberal government is cashing in on higher oil prices while forcing Canadians to pay more at the pump, making work more expensive, family life more expensive and running a business more expensive. Let me put it plainly. Canadians are being squeezed, and the Liberal government is profiting from that squeeze. That is why Conservatives are calling for zero tax on gas to give Canadians a break, not Liberal half measures that cut the tax half the way and for half the time. Last week, when asked what he would do about rising gas prices, the Liberal Prime Minister said, “That's something we're looking at.” Canadians do not need a Liberal government that is looking. They need a government that is doing.”
“Mr. Speaker, there are moments in public life when a government is tested not by what it says, but by what it does when people are hurting. This is one of those moments. Across the country, Canadians are not just frustrated; they are stretched to the breaking point. They are making trade-offs that no family in a prosperous nation should have to make. They are choosing between filling the tank and filling the fridge, between getting to work and paying the mortgage, between keeping the lights on and keeping food on the table. At the centre of that pressure is the simple and avoidable reality: the cost of fuel. Here at home, fuel is not a luxury. It is not discretionary. It is the lifeblood of our economy. It is how a nurse gets to a night shift. It is how a contractor gets to a job site. It is how food gets from the farm to shelf.”
“Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government, the immigration system is more out of control than ever. The Prime Minister claims that temporary foreign worker number are down by 50%, yet the facts say otherwise. In 2025 alone, approvals hit a staggering 167,000, nearly triple the 60,000 in 2015. At the same time, youth unemployment is surging to 14% , and young Canadians cannot find work. The Liberal Prime Minister either does not know his own numbers or is choosing to ignore them. How many more Canadian workers have to be pushed out of jobs and into food banks before the Liberal government admits its immigration is betraying Canadians?”
“Petitioners are also concerned that Canadians' trust in public institutions depends on the assurance that public service employment and research funding are awarded on the basis of merit and value to taxpayers, rather than adherence to ideological tests or identity-based criteria. Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to prohibit DEI quotas and targets in federal hiring and promotion; eliminate DEI requirements in federal research funding; ban DEI compliance offices and mandatory DEI training in the federal public service; prioritize federal support for post-secondary institutions that uphold merit-based hiring and promotion and do not maintain DEI compliance offices; and strengthen transparency through annual reporting and Treasury Board audits to ensure merit-based standards.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the people of Richmond Hill South to present a petition where petitioners are concerned that over the past decade, diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI, mandates have become embedded across federal departments, agencies, granting councils and federally funded institutions. Figures released by the current government indicate that more than a billion dollars has been spent on DEI-related initiatives and programming within the federal sphere. These DEI requirements risk undermining trust in public institutions, discouraging excellence and diverting public funds away from frontline services, innovation and high-quality research.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not need more photo ops. They need results. This week, we learned the Liberals have only removed one IRGC official after nearly four years. At the House immigration committee, Liberal officials said they could not deport them because there were no flights to Iran and because they needed to protect their privacy. Conservatives are calling for the enforcement of deportation orders for Iranian regime officials, the closing of loopholes that allow human rights abusers to be admitted and a crackdown on regime money laundering in Canada. I am going to ask again. When will the Liberal government implement the foreign influence registry, stop rubber-stamping refugee claims without in-person interviews and finally deport the regime agents who are terrorizing our communities?”
“Mr. Speaker, never have foreign conflicts spilled onto our streets the way they have under the Liberal government. Three separate synagogues were shot at in a week in the GTA. An Iranian dissident in B.C. has gone missing, and police are investigating it as a homicide. An Iranian dissident in Thornhill had his boxing gym shot up 17 times the day after organizing a rally in Richmond Hill. Canadians are watching violence and intimidation spread in their own communities, while the Liberals sit back and do nothing. Will the Liberal government table a plan to take action against the Iranian regime operating here at home so that Canadians can feel safe on their own streets?”
“The petitioners are calling on the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada to expand and rigorously enforce targeted sanctions against leaders and enemies responsible for repression; fully implement the IRGC listing through investigations, asset freezes, seizures and prosecutions where warranted, and strengthen immigration and inadmissibility screening to prevent entry by regime officials and their affiliates and family members; direct federal law enforcement and security agencies to investigate foreign interference, transnational repression and money laundering linked to the regime in Iran and to protect Canadians from intimidation; ensure that the foreign influence transparency and accountability regime in Canada includes meaningful penalties and strong enforcement; swiftly implement a robust foreign agent registry to keep Canadians safe; work with international partners to pursue independent investigations and accountability for the mass killings and abuses during the January 2026 crackdowns; and, finally, expel and remove from Canada individuals acting as agents of the regime in Iran.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the people of Richmond Hill South and tens of thousands of petitioners who signed this petition who are concerned about Iranian regime-linked harassment and intimidation occurring on Canadian soil, endangering Canadians of Iranian heritage and of all backgrounds.”
“Mr. Chair, Canadians have been wondering this past week about the Liberal Prime Minister 's flip-flop. First, he unequivocally supported the strikes from Israel and U.S. on Iran and the Iranian regime. Then he called for de-escalation and ceasefires. Then, all of a sudden, he said it is a breakdown of an international order and a violation of international law. Then he went on and said that maybe we should not rule out military participation. Canadians and people in my riding of Richmond Hill South are wondering when the Liberal government will offer the moral clarity that they deserve rather than giving flip-flopping Liberal statements that sound a whole lot like the last Liberal prime minister.”
“Mr. Chair, Conservatives have always been consistent in our view. We ae unequivocal in our support of the Iranian people who are braving bullets, blackouts and beatings, executions and torture, because they seek a new and free Iran. Conservatives will always stand with the Iranian people against this tyrannical regime.”
“Mr. Chair, people are infuriated. They are infuriated after years of Conservatives and advocates calling for the implementation of a foreign agent registry, which is still delayed. After two years, it still has not been implemented. The Liberals are mulling $50 fines. Members know that $50 is not even enough to get groceries for a family in this Liberal economy. People are frustrated that the Liberals are not taking serious action to combat foreign interference. There are hundreds and hundreds of regime agents who are terrorizing communities. They are intimidating journalists. They are silencing activists. They are terrorizing business owners. That has to stop. It is time for the Liberals to stop delivering empty Liberal rhetoric and it is time for them to start taking action.”
“We stand with the people of Iran who seek freedom from tyranny and a peaceful transition to a free and democratic Iran. We support decisive action to prevent the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, and we will always stand for the protection of Canadians here at home, especially against the threats posed by foreign terror networks and their proxies. Canadians deserve a government that is clear in its principles, firm in its decisions and accountable for its actions. Right now, they are getting none of these things from the Liberal Prime Minister . He must stop hiding. He must come before Canadians and answer the very simple question that still remains: What exactly is Canada's position?”
“It lies, represses its own people, sponsors terror across the region and repeatedly demonstrates that it is incapable of negotiating in good faith and engaging in diplomacy. This is why Canadians, especially many in my riding of Richmond Hill South and many other communities across this country, understand what is at stake. They understand the brutality of the regime and the courage of the Iranian people who are fighting for freedom and making the ultimate sacrifice. They understand that moral clarity matters, but instead of moral clarity, the Liberal government offers mixed messages. Instead of firm leadership, it offers hesitation. Instead of answering questions, the Liberal Prime Minister simply disappears. Only Conservatives are prepared to speak clearly.”
“Meanwhile, the Liberal Prime Minister has been avoiding the media and refusing to answer questions about the safety and security of Canadians overseas and here at home, about Canada's role in the international response or about whether Canada could be drawn into a military conflict. By the way, Conservatives are calling for a debate and vote before Canada gets involved militarily. The silence is deeply troubling. As head of government, the Prime Minister has a special responsibility for national security and the conduct of Canada's international relations for Canada's national interests. Canadians deserve transparency, consistency and clear leadership. The regime in Iran has shown time and time again that it cannot be trusted.”
“Is the Liberal government supporting decisive action against a dangerous regime, or is it calling for a ceasefire that leaves that regime untouched? Even members of his own cabinet cannot keep the story straight. The Liberal foreign affairs minister said last week that Canada prefers “a diplomatic resolution”, an end to the U.S. strikes, and believes in a peaceful resolution. At the same time, the Liberal defence minister tried to say both contradictory things at once. He said the Liberal government supports the U.S. strikes but also supports a ceasefire. That is not clarity or leadership. It is trying to be on both sides of the same conflict at the same time by speaking out of both sides of his Liberal mouth.”
“On the conflict in the Middle East, the Liberal Prime Minister says one thing to one audience and something different to the next. He tells Canadians that he represents a so-called new government, but the more Canadians watch these flip-flopping statements, the more it looks exactly like the old Liberal playbook: confusion, contradictions and someone who is not to be taken seriously. First, he supports decisive action. Then he regrets supporting it. Then he calls the situation a breakdown of the international order and says that international law binds all parties involved, but at the same time, he refuses to rule out sending Canadian troops into the conflict. If the Liberal Prime Minister believes this is a breakdown of the international order, Canadians deserve to know what exactly Canada's position is.”
“Then he started calling for a de-escalation and a ceasefire that would, if we carefully read between the lines, leave the same brutal regime in place. Let us not forget that this is the same regime that terrorizes its own people and, more recently, killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians and injured many more in a short few months. This is also the same regime that has sponsored terrorism across the Middle East and all across the world for the last 47 years and whose agents and proxies intimidate communities here in Canada. While he calls for de-escalation, the Liberal Prime Minister simultaneously says he is not ruling out military participation with the United States. Canadians deserve clarity, but instead, they are getting contradictions.”
“Mr. Chair, the Liberal Prime Minister claimed that he is the man we want in a crisis, but recent days have shown that he cannot live up to his own standard. Over the last week, Canadians have not seen leadership. They have seen contradictions, confusion and a series of foreign policy flip-flops on Iran and the conflict in the Middle East. First, the Liberal Prime Minister came out clearly in support of the American and Israeli strikes on Iran. His statement was unequivocal. He said, “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.” However, only days later, he said he made the statement “with regret”, called the strikes a breakdown of the international order and said they are a violation of international law.”
“Mr. Speaker, that was a great question. Just to reiterate, in Toronto, buyers now pay over $130,000 per apartment in municipal taxes, and nearly $98,000 per condo in Mississauga. For single-family homes, it is up to $180,000 in Toronto and Markham, and in Mississauga, it is $135,000. Canadians do not need a fourth Liberal bureaucracy. What the Liberal government is doing is laying the foundation for a new bureaucracy, not laying the foundation for new homes. All it has managed to build is new office space for its new highly paid, Liberal-connected bureaucrats and another Liberal bureaucracy. What Canadians need are homes, not more Liberal press releases.”
“Mr. Speaker, we have a Liberal Prime Minister who is so out of touch with Canadians, especially young Canadians, that he has told them to make more sacrifices, that they need to be content with less and to lower their expectations. Young Canadians are expecting a leader who will restore hope, not crush it. That has become the psychology of an entire generation, that they are losing hope. The stats do not lie. Most young Canadians, 93% of gen Z and millennials, believe they need to move out of the area they grew up in because they do not believe they can ever afford a home. That is what the Liberal Prime Minister is doing. It is time for Canada to restore hope and have a leader who will restore hope for young Canadians, not crush it.”
“It is the Liberal Prime Minister , who has told young Canadians they need to make some sacrifices, they need to become content with less and they need to lower their expectations.”
“Mr. Speaker, I find that kind of rich coming from the Liberal member. When the Leader of the Opposition was the housing minister, rent for a one-bedroom apartment was only $900. That is less than half of what it is today. As well, the average home price was $450,000, much lower than it is today, after the 11 years of Liberal housing hell that the Liberal government has created. Let us talk about building homes. The Liberal Prime Minister , just like the previous Liberal prime minister, making promises he cannot deliver, promised he would build at a pace not seen in generations. He is going to build 500,000 new homes. Guess what. He has built only 5,000. His own agency says he has built only 5,000. That is less than 1%. Do members know who is even more out of touch?”
“Under the Liberals, that promise has been broken. Let us stop building bureaucracy and start building homes. Let builders build so young Canadians can finally build a life. Hope has not faded for Canadians yet. It is just waiting to be rebuilt.”
“Canadians do not need another Ottawa-based housing czar spewing Liberal rhetoric and propaganda. They need results and hope. That is why Conservatives have put forward a real plan. We will cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million, saving families up to $65,000 and unleashing new construction. We will tie federal infrastructure dollars to housing approvals. Municipalities must permit at least 15% more housing each year, and we will cut development charges by 50%. Finally, we will end capital gains tax on reinvestment in new housing to unlock billions in private investment. Young Canadians are not asking for another agency. They are asking for a chance: a chance to save, a chance to buy and a chance to build a life. The Canadian promise used to mean something simple: Work hard, and one day one can own a home.”
“It has gotten so bad that 38% of builders report that they or their subcontractors have had to lay off workers because of market conditions. In 2020, 69% of housing starts were intended for the ownership market, with 31% for primary rentals. By 2025, five years later, the share for ownership had dropped to just 49%, a dramatic shift away from homes that families can actually buy. Even more troubling is that 86% of builders now express concern about their business surviving the next 12 months, and 27% are extremely concerned, up sharply from 16% in late 2023. When the very people who build our homes are laying off workers and fearing for their survival, it is clear that this housing crisis is not just hurting buyers but is also crippling our workers and the economy as well.”
“A staggering 87% say they are concerned about the state of housing today, including 90% of gen Z and millennials. The Liberal housing crisis is reshaping our communities, with 69% of Canadians saying that affordability is changing who can live in their neighbourhoods, and nearly half of young Canadians have considered leaving their city or province because housing costs are simply too high. This is not a market imbalance. It is a generational warning sign. Imagine doing everything right in life but not being able to build a life. That is what the Liberal government has done to the psychology of an entire generation. Conservatives have sounded the alarm on the lack of housing supply for years. The Liberals have finally admitted that there is a problem, but they have not yet admitted that they are the problem.”
“The PBO found that under the Liberals' own affordability formula, a two-bedroom unit would cost $2,168 per month for the median household, which is nearly double the $1,100 national median market rent. Even their so-called affordable Liberal-made housing stretches affordability beyond reason and reality. After 10 years of Liberal strategies, funds, accelerators and announcements, the Liberal housing crisis has become a Liberal housing catastrophe. Between 2011 and 2021, home ownership among young Canadians aged 30 to 34 fell from 60% to 52%. The decline is even steeper for younger cohorts. From 2019 to 2024, for every 100-person increase in the adult population, there were only 12 housing starts intended for home ownership, less than half the rate in earlier decades. Canadians see what is happening.”
“At the same time, the Liberal industrial carbon tax drives up the cost of cement, steel and glass. There are Liberal taxes on materials, taxes on permits, taxes on land and Liberal taxes on investment and reinvestment. Then, the Liberals think introducing a new federal agency will somehow solve the shortage those taxes and red tape helped create. When a country run by the Liberals makes it harder to build a home, it should not be a surprise when it becomes harder for Canadians to build a life. It already takes the federal government nine years to dispose of surplus property, yet now the Liberals are considering acquiring private land, even as they cannot effectively build on the land they already own.”
“In Toronto, buyers now pay over $130,000 per apartment just in municipal taxes, and nearly $98,000 per condo in Mississauga. For single-family homes, Toronto and Markham charged over $180,000 per home, and $135,000 in Mississauga. Those are taxes before we even pour the foundation or lay a brick. The Liberals promised during the election to cut these development charges by 50%, and as we can expect, they have broken that promise. Instead, they sent hundreds of millions of dollars to cities without strings attached, including nearly $400 million to Metro Vancouver, even as some regions now plan to triple development charges from 2024 levels. Developers warn that this will add tens of thousands of dollars to the price of a unit and slow down construction even further. Liberals are spending taxpayer money but delivering opposite results.”
“Average two-bedroom rents rose another 5% last year after more than doubling under the last Liberal prime minister. In the GTA, someone earning an average income must spend 42% of their after-tax income just to afford a one-bedroom apartment and it is two-thirds of a minimum-wage paycheque just to rent a studio. Canadians are suffocating in the Liberal housing hell. A report showed that more than half of first-time homebuyers who intend to purchase in the next five years believe home ownership is completely out of reach. We wonder why young Canadians are delaying marriage, delaying having children and moving back home. Many are leaving their communities and the country entirely. (1615) We also need to be honest about what caused the Liberal housing crisis. Over the last decade, municipal development charges have increased by 700%.”
“The Liberal housing minister himself admitted there are no top-line targets set for the number of homes to build. Really, no top-line targets? Imagine telling a 35-year-old, who feels like time is slipping away, that the government has no concrete goal. The only thing bold about the government is the speed of its failure, and the transformation Canadians are witnessing is the transformation of hope into shattered dreams. This made-by-Liberal crisis is visible in every metric. CMHC itself says many households will delay buying homes and choose to rent longer as prices continue to rise over the next three years. Let us think about that. The government's own housing agency is effectively saying young Canadians have to wait longer, but pay more. For renters, the story is just as painful.”
“That is down 36% from last year. It is 80% below the 10-year average, making it the lowest level since the early 1990s. That is not a slowdown. It is a Liberal paralysis. Buyers cannot buy, builders cannot build and sellers cannot sell, and the Liberals' answer is to create a fourth federal housing bureaucracy under the so-called Build Canada Homes act. The Liberals do not want to build homes. Instead, they are obstructing builders with red tape, choking the market with taxes and shattering the dreams of young buyers. Even when the homes eventually get built under the Liberal bureaucracy, the government's own parliamentary budget watchdog, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the PBO, found that the Liberal bureaucracy will add just 5,000 homes a year. That is 1% of the 500,000 homes the Liberals promise.”
“As a matter of fact, they are getting even worse, believe it or not. CMHC says Canada needs between 430,000 and 480,000 housing starts per year for the next decade just to restore affordability and meet projected demand. What did the Liberals get built last year? It was a meagre 259,028 homes. By 2028, housing starts are projected to fall as low as 212,000 per year. That is a staggering 18% drop and 55% below what CMHC says is necessary. The Prime Minister promised 500,000 homes per year. He said we needed to build at a pace not seen since the Second World War. Instead, we are building at half the pace he promised, and headed even lower. In Toronto, housing starts were down 31% compared to the previous year. In other major Ontario cities, they were down 13%. In January, in the entire greater Toronto area, only 269 new homes were sold.”
“One young couple told me that they had saved for 10 years, 10 years of discipline and counting the pennies on two full-time incomes. All they want is a modest townhouse to start a family, but they are completely priced out. They tell me they have given up on having kids and starting a family because of the housing crisis the Liberal government started. Others tell me they are moving back in their parents' basement because they want to at least have some money left at the end of the month after paying rent so they can afford food and basic necessities. This is what the Liberal housing crisis has done. It has normalized suffering and despair. What does the latest “Housing Market Outlook” from the government's own housing agency, CMHC, tell us? It tells us that things are not improving.”
“When we strip away the Liberal rhetoric, what do we find? It is another Liberal announcement, another Liberal acronym, another Liberal bureaucracy, another federal agency staffed by highly paid Liberal-connected Ottawa bureaucrats and another Liberal promise without a target. However, one thing is clear. The Liberals are not interested in building homes. They are simply building roadblocks and a backlog while crushing the hope of an entire generation. In my own community, I meet young professionals, software developers, engineers and accountants, who quietly pull me aside at events and say they have given up, not because they are lazy or lack ambition, but because, even with good incomes and savings, the math simply does not work.”