Abbotsford’s Conservative MP shared his dismay with the new federal budget in the House of Commons and via social media this week.
“What a disaster that was,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page.
His criticisms focused on housing affordability, which has become a hot topic in the Fraser Valley over the last few years.
“We’re living through an inflation crisis, an affordability crisis,” he said in the video. “Where families can’t get into homes anymore. They’ve lost their dream of home ownership.”
He said the Trudeau government is leaving “so many Canadians” behind, and spending more than future generations can afford.
He also spoke up in the House of Commons on budget day, April 7. He said the cost of living is the most pressing issue facing Canadians, and questioned Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on the government’s housing promise to double the number of new home builds.
“Can the minister tell us exactly how many homes she and her government have actually built over the past, say, seven years?” he said. “I would like just the number, please. I know she has to have the number because she made the claim.”
Freeland said housing the “centrepiece of this budget,” and that the focus is on supply.
“What we need to do as a country is find ways to tear down the barriers to building more homes,” she said. “The member correctly points out that many of those barriers are at the municipal level. There are a lot of former city councillors and mayors in this House. They all understand very well that what we need to do is find ways to work together with municipalities, provinces and territories to build more of the homes Canadians need.”
She did not answer how many homes have been built during the Liberal leadership terms.
READ MORE: Federal budget will have the support of the NDP, but will also face opposition
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