All sittings← 2014-05-132014-05-15 →
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 · sitting No. 86
NDP motion urges renewed funding for affordable housing amid rising costs
New Democratic MP Mike Sullivan moved a supply motion calling on the government to work with provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous groups to renew long-term social housing funding and reinvest in new units. The motion recognizes a housing crunch caused by chronic underfunding since 1993 and notes growing waiting lists and costs. Debate on the motion took up 64 per cent of the sitting.
Conservative minister Candice Bergen said the government has focused on a Housing First approach through the homelessness partnering strategy and noted that mortgages on existing units are paid off. Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux said previous Liberal governments built thousands of non-profit and subsidized units and accused the NDP of defeating the Kelowna accord. NDP MP Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet highlighted regional pressures from economic booms.
From the Hansard record of the sitting. Full Hansard
No CPAC Question Period upload is on file for this day. CPAC’s channel goes back to December 2019.
Who held the floor · 2014-05-14
AI-rated The sitting score and the rating of each answer come from a language model reading Hansard. How the AI rates this
Other moments
Employment
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau pressed the Prime Minister on repeated failed fixes to the temporary foreign worker program and offered his party's plan for reduced intake and transparency. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government has cut applications by 30 per cent and accused Liberals of contradictory demands in English and French.
Read the exchangeJustice
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair asked who in the Prime Minister's Office directed Justice Marc Nadon to rejoin the Quebec bar and called for an apology to the Chief Justice. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he acted on legal advice that judges could move directly from the Federal Court.
Read the exchangeRail Transportation
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said the government has failed to impose financial penalties on rail companies despite receiving the power in 2012. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Lac-Mégantic crash was ruled criminal negligence and that regulatory changes are forthcoming in the Canada Gazette.
Read the exchangeVeterans Affairs
NDP MP Peter Stoffer criticized $100,000 spent on departmental tweets while veterans offices close. Minister Julian Fantino said the NDP should repay misused House funds and defended the small share of spending on commemoration.
Read the exchangeAboriginal Affairs
NDP MP Niki Ashton pressed Justice Minister Peter MacKay for a national inquiry into 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women. MacKay listed 30 justice initiatives and said further studies are not needed.
Read the exchangeQuestion Period, exchange by exchange
AI-rated Each answer’s rating (answered, partly answered, deflected, answered something else) is a model’s reading of the exchange. How the AI rates this
- partly answeredHealthThomas Mulcair (NDP) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer vaguely assures action with WHO but provides no specific measures taken.
the government will do the same in this case.
- deflectedJusticeThomas Mulcair (NDP) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). loaded question.The answer sidesteps the direct question about who requested the resignation.
our position is clear. I received legal and constitutional advice indicating that it is long-standing practice to appoint judges directly from the Federal Court to the Supreme Court.
- deflectedJusticeThomas Mulcair (NDP) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). loaded question.The answer rejects the premise and avoids addressing the call for an apology.
once again, I reject the premise of the question.
- partly answeredRail TransportationThomas Mulcair (NDP) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer addresses regulatory development but pivots to the criminal aspect of the incident.
The government is developing regulations and something will appear in the Canada Gazette shortly.
- partly answeredRail TransportationThomas Mulcair (NDP) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer disputes the premise of inaction and notes ongoing regulatory steps.
The government has brought in significant improvements and investments in railway safety.
- misdirectedEmploymentMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer attacks the Liberal Party's inconsistencies instead of detailing new program fixes.
yesterday, in English, the leader of the Liberal Party asked us to restrict the number of foreign workers, and then, in French, he asked us to increase the number of foreign workers.
- misdirectedEmploymentMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer focuses on Liberal contradictions and lobbying rather than the proposed plan.
The last time I checked, these contradictions had been delivered in both English and French.
- misdirectedEmploymentMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Stephen Harper (Conservative). substantive question.The answer reiterates past changes and Liberal inconsistencies instead of addressing the plan.
once again, thanks to changes made by this government, we have reduced the number of applications for some streams of the temporary foreign worker program by 30%.
- misdirectedVeterans AffairsMr. Peter Stoffer (NDP) asked Julian Fantino (Conservative). rhetorical question.Answer ignores the spending question and attacks the NDP instead.
However, the veterans I know would expect that if the NDP broke the rules, they take responsibility and repay taxpayers immediately.
- misdirectedVeterans AffairsMr. Sylvain Chicoine (NDP) asked Julian Fantino (Conservative). loaded question.Answer pivots to attacking the NDP rather than addressing the tweet spending or French errors.
However, if the NDP broke the rules, it should take responsibility and repay taxpayers immediately.
- misdirectedVeterans AffairsMs. Irene Mathyssen (NDP) asked Julian Fantino (Conservative). rhetorical question.Answer attacks the NDP's voting record instead of responding to the tweet spending criticism.
it is quite ironic, really, that the party that has consistently voted against every measure that we have undertaken to upload and improve the quality of life for our veterans and their families today can stand up and be critical.
- partly answeredEmploymentMs. Jinny Jogindera Sims (NDP) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). substantive question.Answer acknowledges the glitch and states work is underway to fix it while adding unrelated job creation claims.
We are working with it to fix that technical glitch.
- partly answeredEmploymentMrs. Sadia Groguhé (NDP) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). substantive question.Answer admits the 2% long postings issue and says it is being fixed but does not address the call for an independent review.
We are working on fixing that technical glitch.
- deflectedEmploymentMrs. Sadia Groguhé (NDP) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). substantive question.Answer mentions a review and audits but then attacks the NDP's inconsistency instead of committing to an independent review.
The NDP's position is inconsistent.
- deflectedEmploymentMr. Guy Caron (NDP) asked Mr. Andrew Saxton (Conservative). substantive question.Answer defends overall job record and urges support for a plan but does not address the hiring credit or stagnant growth specifics.
That is why we encourage the opposition to get on board and support economic action plan 2014.
- deflectedEmploymentMr. Nathan Cullen (NDP) asked Mr. Andrew Saxton (Conservative). substantive question.Answer repeats job creation statistics and forecasts but ignores the request to deal with long-term unemployment and part-time job facts.
Over one million net new jobs were created since July 2009, among the best job creation records in the G7.
- misdirectedEmploymentMr. Nathan Cullen (NDP) asked Mr. Andrew Saxton (Conservative). substantive question.The answer attacks the NDP's voting record and tax plans instead of addressing job losses or foreign worker policy.
it is rich for the NDP to be criticizing our government's record on job creation.
- misdirectedEmploymentJohn McCallum (Liberal) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). loaded question.The answer pivots to attacking the Liberal leader's letter and moratorium inconsistency rather than explaining the Ireland trip or youth unemployment data.
I guess for the Liberals the Irish need not apply yet again.
- deflectedHousingJudy Sgro (Liberal) asked Candice Bergen (Conservative). substantive question.The answer blames Liberals for ending agreements and notes no committee questions instead of committing to renewed funding for co-ops.
There was not one question on housing; so they do not care about affordable housing.
- answeredCommittees of the HouseMr. Kevin Lamoureux (Liberal) asked Mr. Joe Preston (Conservative). substantive question.The answer directly states the agenda, confirms the lease request, and notes the NDP documents are incomplete.
Some of the documents from the NDP are quite thin.
- deflectedHousingMs. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet (NDP) asked Candice Bergen (Conservative). substantive question.The answer references a prior committee appearance and diverts to NDP offices instead of confirming renewal of social housing funding.
It seems as if this is a bit of a diversion, because the New Democrats have been trying to get affordable offices possibly.
- deflectedHousingMs. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet (NDP) asked Candice Bergen (Conservative). substantive question.The answer mentions a BC renewal but immediately shifts to criticizing NDP office subsidies rather than addressing rent supplement cuts.
Let us talk about subsidies for rent at the expense of the taxpayer to subsidize offices.
- deflectedHousingMr. Mike Sullivan (NDP) asked Candice Bergen (Conservative). substantive question.The answer lists past investments and opposition votes but pivots to accusing the NDP of a funding scheme for offices.
- misdirectedHousingMr. Matthew Kellway (NDP) asked Candice Bergen (Conservative). substantive question.The answer ignores the national housing strategy request and instead accuses the member of involvement in an NDP funding scheme.
Was he part of the scheme? Did he contribute money to the scheme to have offices paid for at the taxpayers' expense?
- misdirectedAboriginal AffairsMs. Niki Ashton (NDP) asked Peter MacKay (Conservative). loaded question.Answer attacks the questioner and pivots to government actions instead of addressing whether more can be done beyond existing initiatives.
what we do not need is haughty, condescending questions from the opposition.
- deflectedAboriginal AffairsMr. Jonathan Genest-Jourdain (NDP) asked Peter MacKay (Conservative). substantive question.Answer lists existing programs but does not specify socio-economic causes from studies or new measures tied to them.
We are talking about the $25 million injected into the aboriginal justice strategy.
- partly answeredAboriginal AffairsMr. Romeo Saganash (NDP) asked Bernard Valcourt (Conservative). substantive question.Answer acknowledges the housing challenge and references existing programs but does not address the motion, underfunding, or urgency directly.
It is definitely a challenge that we must address together with the first nations.
- deflectedAboriginal AffairsMs. Jean Crowder (NDP) asked Bernard Valcourt (Conservative). loaded question.Answer highlights government housing numbers but ends by attacking the NDP voting record instead of addressing the motion or funding approach.
While we continue to work in collaboration to improve the first nation quality of life, the NDP continues voting against every measure.
- misdirectedThe EnvironmentJohn McKay (Liberal) asked Leona Aglukkaq (Conservative). loaded question.Answer ignores the community meeting question and pivots to unrelated federal climate actions and criticism of Liberals.
Thanks to our actions, carbon emissions will go down by close to 130 megatonnes from what they would have been under the Liberals
- deflectedVeterans AffairsMr. Frank Valeriote (Liberal) asked Julian Fantino (Conservative). substantive question.Answer discusses general veteran support and communication but does not address the specific spending on tweets versus office closures.
We are in fact communicating clearly and in plain language so that veterans and their families can quickly and easily access information
- partly answeredForeign AffairsMr. Paul Dewar (NDP) asked Deepak Obhrai (Conservative). substantive question.Answer states Canadian personnel are on the ground in a liaison role but provides no further details on assistance offered.
Canadian personnel on the ground are there solely in a liaison and advisory capacity.
- answeredForeign AffairsMs. Hélène Laverdière (NDP) asked Deepak Obhrai (Conservative). substantive question.Answer directly confirms Canada will attend the meeting.
I can tell the hon. member that Canada will attend and our representation will be determined very shortly.
- deflectedForestry IndustryMs. Lise St-Denis (Liberal) asked Mrs. Kelly Block (Conservative). substantive question.Answer shifts focus to northern Ontario economic development instead of addressing federal involvement in Quebec forestry consolidation.
from Muskoka to the Manitoba border, our government will continue to focus on community economic development, business growth, competitiveness, and innovation that creates jobs and long-term prosperity.
- misdirectedChamplain BridgeMr. Hoang Mai (NDP) asked Denis Lebel (Conservative). substantive question.Answer attacks the opposition's voting record and accuses them of playing politics rather than confirming existence of a toll study.
I want to point out that this member and his party voted against a $380-million investment in maintaining the existing bridge.
- deflectedPublic SafetyMr. Randall Garrison (NDP) asked Steven Blaney (Conservative). loaded question.Question uses loaded framing of 'maybe-fly list'; answer gives general safety assurances without addressing the specific last-minute decision process.
It is very important for us to make sure that everything is safe before a passenger boards a plane headed to Canada.
- partly answeredPublic SafetyMr. Brent Rathgeber (Independent) asked Steven Blaney (Conservative). substantive question.Answer references amnesty measures already taken but does not address drafting legislation to limit RCMP discretionary powers or timeline for new firearm definitions.
that is why I have brought forward amnesty for those people who have been affected by this classification issue.