Speaking Notes for

Steven Blaney Member of Parliament for Lévis – Bellechasse

on behalf of

The Honourable Diane Finley Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Opening — Villa Joie de Vivre

November 5, 2006
2:00 p.m.
88 Du Foyer Street North
Saint-Pamphile, Quebec

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Good afternoon,

I am pleased to join you today on behalf of my colleague, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development — and the Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It gives me great pleasure to be here with my provincial and municipal counterparts, as well as all the other partners involved in this initiative, to celebrate the opening of the Villa Joie de Vivre.

Here in Saint-Pamphile, and right across the country, Canada’s new Government is getting things done for Canadians. We’re putting more money in their pockets by lowering taxes, helping with choice in child care by giving parents $100 a month for each child under six, and providing municipalities with funding through the gas tax. We’ve also introduced important new changes to Compassionate Care leave, brought in incentives to help young people get into the trades through apprenticeship grants, provided $1 billion for post-secondary education, and made an additional $1.4 billion commitment to affordable housing.

The strength of Canada is the strength of our communities. That’s why the federal government is continuing to provide support for initiatives like this one. This project will provide 16 new affordable housing units that will allow seniors to live independently in a quality environment, close to their loved ones.

Our new Government is pleased to work in cooperation with the Government of Quebec, the municipality and community sector representatives to provide our fellow citizens with a better quality of life.

The federal financial contributions are being made under the Affordable Housing Agreement. They are being assumed through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which provided an amount of $375,730.

CMHC has been our national housing agency for more than 60 years. The federal government, through CMHC, provides approximately $2 billion a year in housing assistance across the country. This primarily supports some 633,000 lower-income households. For the people of Quebec, this represents a total of about $406.3 million annually — in support of about 141,000 lower-income households.

Today’s opening marks an important step forward for the people of Saint-Pamphile and demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together. When it comes to building communities, it takes the efforts of many to achieve success. It takes partnerships, and it also takes creative and innovative people with a vision.

Thank you to all those involved in this project, including Habitations Saint-Pamphile. You are making a difference for many people here, who will see their living conditions clearly improve thanks to their new homes.

I applaud your efforts and wish you all the best.

Thank you for joining us.