Bonita Zarrillo

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, obviously my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam is very close to the American border and also has a very busy and important port.

I know that the government is going to make some announcements today about investments in the port, but I wonder if the member could share his experience around the loss of funding in policing around ports and the border over 10 years of the last two governments.

[Privilege, December 16th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway for really sharing with the House all of the fantastic work the NDP has done for Canadians, all of those programs for Canadians.

I wonder if the member would not mind letting Canadians know what the Conservatives have not delivered in the House in three years.

[Petitions, December 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on affordable housing. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have neglected investing in affordable housing for decades, and predatory landlords have been able to take advantage of the vulnerabilities. The average rent in my riding of Coquitlam for a two-bedroom apartment has reached $2,900. Corporate landlords are increasingly using renovictions and demovictions to demolish affordable housing.

Therefore, the undersigned ask for the government to impose a moratorium on renovictions and other forms of displacing tenants, to invest in affordable housing, non-profit and co-op housing, and to stop providing billions of dollars in handouts to corporate landlords who are buying up existing affordable housing, evicting people and raising rents.

[Protection of the Right to Adequate Housing Act, December 11th, 2024]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-423, An Act to amend the National Housing Strategy Act (right to adequate housing).

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to protect Canadians from greedy corporate landlords whose tactics unfairly raise rents, evict tenants and harm Canadians. I thank the member for Vancouver East for seconding the bill and for her work to shine a light on the financialization of housing in Canada.

The bill would enshrine the fundamental human right to housing into the National Housing Strategy Act. It is one of the fundamental rights that the Liberal government deliberately left out of that very same housing act. The bill would provide the government with the tools to stop renovictions, demovictions and the unfair business practices that are making people homeless.

The NDP wants the housing needs of people to be prioritized over the profits of predatory corporate landlords, REITs and even unethical Liberal government pension funds. The Liberals' national housing strategy has failed to uphold people's rights to adequate housing, in favour of making real estate investors rich. Like the Conservatives before them, Liberals prioritize multi-million dollar corporations over fundamental human rights of Canadians.

Everyone, regardless of income, background or circumstance, deserves access to a safe, accessible and affordable place to call home. This is the human right that the bill would enshrine and make a reality.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, it really is a tragedy in communities across this country that people are losing their lives due to a toxic and poisoned drug supply.

Today is Human Rights Day and the federal housing advocate has talked about housing as a fundamental human right. People are homeless and living in encampments right now, their human rights are being violated, in most of our communities.

I would ask the member about policy that puts people first, ahead of corporate profits. Why was that not included in the national housing strategy?

[Nobel Peace Prize, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, since the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle has decided to be a mind reader, I just wanted to clarify that although the Conservatives are used to being told what to do, I am not. If the Speaker would so kindly check the notes I gave to the pages, he will see that I have handwritten notes about the very important interventions in Ottawa today from people around homelessness in this country and how desperate folks are. I would just raise that I do have a mind of my own, unlike the Conservatives.

[Housing, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting, and we saw in Ottawa today that it was expressed around homelessness. Renters in Canada are facing exploitation and eviction because of corporate greed. It is so bad that a class-action lawsuit has started against corporate landlords, accusing them of price fixing using the AI program, YieldStar.

For months, the New Democrats have called on the Liberals to protect renters, but the Liberals and Conservatives chose to protect corporate profits over people.

Why is the Prime Minister letting down renters and caving to corporate landlord CEOs?

[Housing, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting. We saw it expressed in the gallery today—

[Housing, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting, and we saw it expressed in the gallery today. Renters in Canada are facing exploitation and eviction because of corporate greed.

[Housing, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting, and we saw it expressed in the gallery today. Renters in Canada are facing exploitation and eviction because of corporate greed.