QUESTION PERIOD — Infrastructure and Communities
Affordable Housing
December 10, 2024
Senator Gold, despite the significant financial burden that the GST places on new homes and the growing unaffordability of housing in Canada, your government, with the help of the Maserati Marxist Jagmeet Singh, voted against the Conservative motion to eliminate the GST on new homes under $1 million. How do you justify maintaining this tax while housing costs remain out of reach for so many Canadians? The Trudeau government has relegated a whole generation of young Canadians to living in the basement of their parents’ home. This common-sense Conservative measure would allow Canadian homebuyers to save up to $50,000 and will spark construction of more than 30,000 homes and apartments across the country, but your Trudeau government voted against it. Why, Senator Gold?
Senator Housakos, as I stated before — and I’ll take the opportunity to state it again — you are quoting only part of what is at issue within the housing issues. Indeed, your leader, whom you follow so loyally, made a particular offer. What you have not mentioned — but which is in the public record — is his other statement to cut millions, if not billions, of dollars of investments that this government has brought forward to stimulate and help housing through a whole suite of measures. You cannot — well, you can and clearly do — quote selectively when it serves your purposes.
The fact is this government has invested seriously in a multitude of ways to address the housing question. The offer that your party made was not a serious offer, and it ignored all the programs that it would cut to the detriment of housing in Canada.
Senator Gold, if you have courage, call an election and see which leader the Canadian public would follow. Please don’t talk to us about your GST tax tricks and the Mickey Mouse economics that your government is putting forward. Chrystia Freeland’s appearance at our committee last week was a disaster. Now we know her own department advised against this. Our National Finance Committee here in the Senate did an analysis that shows that this tax trick will save Canadians a whopping $4.50, my dear friends. How much is it ultimately going to cost Canadians in administrative costs to apply something —
Senator Gold, please.
Senator Housakos, I stand by my answer. There is a serious program that this government has put on the table to deal with the housing crisis affecting so many Canadians, and your party is offering nothing but empty slogans, however well rehearsed.
