Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for joining me in Halifax to visit Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House organization is an incredible organization that allows families to make sure they have a place to be when they are away from home to seek treatment for children who are sick.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to thank my colleague for his interest in building affordable housing. I share his concerns. That is why we created the housing accelerator fund, which includes an agreement with Quebec that will result in the construction of more than 8,000 affordable housing units.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague led her question saying that nobody believes what anyone in the government has to say. It is not us who is saying it. One of the people who spent tens of thousands of dollars to take Conservative MPs on a junket to London to wine and dine them, so that they would be his mouthpiece in this chamber, is saying that he is lost “in the wilderness”.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, if the member argues that housing starts in her community are down, why is her solution to cut funding for housing in her community? It is endemic to the Conservative approach. When we look at the plan that Conservatives have put forward, it includes a tax hike on new apartment construction.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, the member is unbelievable. Today, he is asking a question about housing issues, but tomorrow the leader of the Conservative Party plans to introduce a bill that will do away with affordable housing measures, do away with the measures to support communities that build housing and do away with measures that support first-time home buyers.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, with the recent housing plan, we have set out to build the number of homes actually required to solve the housing crisis. With respect, it is disappointing in the extreme that Conservatives will not even set a goal that will solve the problem. What is more interesting is that the member who posed the question has had her community benefit with a $31.5-million investment to build more homes in Kelowna.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable who call his part of the country home. With respect, we are going to make the investments necessary to support some of the country's most vulnerable, including by partnering with communities that serve homeless Canadians, but also by making the investments necessary, worth billions of dollars, to build out the affordable housing stock so people have a durable solution.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague would like to talk about my community. I want to take an opportunity to thank the service providers at shelters like Viola's Place. I want to thank our partners at Coady's Place, who are benefiting from a multi-million dollar investment to build more affordable housing.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I have a hard time accepting this question from the member, whom I respect and believe is here for the right reasons. He puts the question in a frame of homelessness, but he is willing to stand behind his leader's proposition to cut funding that serves homeless Canadians across this country.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, he wants to talk about our policies on affordability. How about the Canada child benefit, which puts more money in the pockets of nine out of 10 Canadian families and stops sending child care checks to millionaires? His party voted against it. Let us look at the change that restored the age of retirement to 65 from 67.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I can just imagine the setting when the leader of the Conservatives sat down with the napkin he wrote his housing plan on and thought: “What can I do to address the housing crisis? Idea one, raise taxes on home construction.” I cannot make this stuff up, but that is not all.

Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, I take my hon. colleague's concerns as sincere, but it is ironic that he puts his question on the floor of the House of Commons just hours after a debate on his leader's bill, which proposes to cut many of the supports that will help people like Edith. The Conservatives put forward measures that are going to increase taxes on home construction.

Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, it is disingenuous in the extreme for the hon. colleague to argue that the very measures that put more money in the pockets of vulnerable people are driving the concerns they are experiencing now. At the same time, he is putting forward a plan, standing behind his leader, that wants to make sure we cut programs that are building affordable housing, that cuts funding going to cities and that cuts programs supporting vulnerable families, whether they are programs to provide affordable child care, dental care or essential medicines to people in need.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, that is interesting, considering that my colleague who asked the question has no plan to fix the situation. We have a plan to make the investments needed to build housing. For example, we signed an agreement with Quebec to build 8,000 affordable housing units. To contrast, the Leader of the Opposition, when he was housing minister, was only able to build six units across the entire country.

Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, I am curious about whether the hon. member has actually approached Conservative premiers across Canada, who maintain their own taxes on fuel. In particular, in the province of Alberta, Danielle Smith has increased the price of fuel by 13¢ and offers no rebate. I expect she knows very well that the majority of families receive more than they pay in a fuel tax, but facts do not seem to matter to a party that is committed to eroding all the environmental protections that exist in this country and has virtually no plans to invest in the things that are going to help working-class families address the cost of living.