Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise on behalf of the good people of Abbotsford—South Langley, whom I represent so proudly in the House.
Today I am honoured to rise on behalf of youth across this nation. Young people across Canada are sacrificing their dream of home ownership, just to make ends meet. In my hometown of Abbotsford, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise every single year. Families are struggling, rent is unaffordable and the dream of owning a home feels farther out of reach than ever before. I am tired of watching the Liberal government's political theatre while Canadians suffer.
The Liberal private member's bill before us, Bill C-227, which claims to introduce a national housing strategy for youth, is yet another example of performative virtue signalling, with big promises but no real results. The bill would do nothing to address the root cause of the housing crisis. It would simply create more bureaucracy, more studies and more expensive government offices that would not put a single roof over a young Canadian's head.
Let us be clear: The housing crisis did not appear overnight. It is not a naturally developing problem. It has been created by the Liberal government's policies. Liberals inflated the housing bubble with excessive money printing and immigration, then blocked supply with taxes and red tape for builders. Building permits in Canada now take longer to approve than in any other country in the G7, stalling development and driving up costs.
On top of that, nearly 30% of the price for new homes is government taxes, fees and charges. CMHC says we need to build 480,000 homes this year to restore affordability. We are on pace to build only 212,000. The government has turned housing into a source of revenue instead of a necessity for all Canadians. That is what we call greed, and it has no place in a government that was elected to serve Canadians and not to profit from their struggles.
Young Canadians deserve better, and so do workers, because the crisis affects not only young families but also all workers whose livelihood depends on construction, including tradespeople and suppliers.
Housing comes down to basic economics: supply and demand. When government restricts housing development through endless red tape, and when construction is bogged down by taxes and fees, supply dries up. When supply dries up, prices skyrocket, and Canadians are the ones who end up paying the price. It is unbelievable that we are facing a shortage in a country as vast and as resource-rich as Canada. We have the land, the material and the talent, but we are missing the leadership.
While the Liberals continue with useless studies, fake announcements and photo ops, Conservatives are focused on solutions. We have introduced common-sense bills that would tackle the housing crisis at its source, yet time and time again, the Liberals have voted them down.
Conservatives have proposed to cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million, saving families up to $65,000; to tie federal infrastructure dollars to homebuilding, ensuring that municipalities permit at least 15% more homebuilding every year; to cut development charges by 50%, a promise the Liberal government made but failed to deliver on; and to end the capital gains tax on reinvestments in housing, unlocking billions of dollars for the homebuilding sector. These proposals are grounded in research, not rhetoric.
Nearly half of Canada's housing costs stem from restrictive land-use regulations, municipal red tape and government overreach. Homebuilding taxes alone account for one-third of the total cost of a home. Taxes and fees on housing are so high that developers struggle to make projects viable, but many are being forced to lay off skilled workers because they simply cannot afford to keep them employed.
Since the Liberals doubled housing costs, the Prime Minister celebrated the housing accelerator fund as a great Liberal success, but the numbers tell a different story. CMHC's own data shows that the fund does not build homes; it builds bureaucracy. In cities that received the so-called accelerator funding, housing starts went down, not up.
The numbers speak for themselves. Vancouver received $150 million, but housing starts went down by 10.4%. Toronto received $471 million, but starts are down 58.5%. Guelph is down 78.6%, Hamilton is down 50.7%, London is down 72.3% and Kelowna is down 33.6%.
This failure is compounded by the Liberals' choice for housing minister. The Liberal housing minister, as the mayor of Vancouver, increased homebuilding taxes by 141% while home prices rose 149%, making Vancouver the least affordable city in North America. In one of his very first interviews as housing minister, he flatly said no when asked if housing prices should come down. He was even caught admitting that the $4.4-billion housing accelerator fund would not result in more homes being built in Canada.
All the government does is continue to waste taxpayer dollars on studies and not answer Canadians as to the root causes. How dare it claims to champion youth while refusing to take meaningful action.
Young Canadians do not need another Liberal photo op; they need homes, affordable homes. A house is not only a lifetime achievement for many folks, but a safe place for building a generational foundation. It is about more than just owning a property. It represents stability, security and a future to work toward.
What this crisis is doing to people my age in my community is creating anxiety, scarcity and fear. We are watching the opportunity to own a home slip away and are being told to simply accept it. I am afraid to see what the future holds for people my age if this continues.
The Prime Minister has spoken about how young people need to make sacrifices, but I believe sacrificing a stable future with a family in a safe home and a safe neighbourhood is unacceptable. There is nothing fair or reasonable about asking young Canadians to give up the hope of home ownership.
I find it personally troubling that the government continues to deliberately ignore the blaring alarm of the crisis it has caused. The Liberals have had years to act. Housing costs have doubled under their government, and young Canadians are being left behind.
I want to end my speech with a message to all young people in this country and to those who have been told by the Liberal government to give up, to lower their expectations and to sacrifice their dreams. It does not have to be this way. My message to them is very simple. They should never sacrifice their future. They deserve opportunity, stability and the chance to build the life they have always dreamed of.
The Conservatives are here to make that possible. We will not rest until young Canadians have access to a good job, an affordable home and a fair shot at the Canadian dream. We will hold the government accountable every single day for the failures it has imposed on them. There is still hope, and together we can build a brighter tomorrow.