Thank you, Amanda, for your words, but mostly for your leadership. It's been a challenging few years on a whole bunch of different levels, and the way you've consistently stepped up has been really, really impressive and you've been just a great partner to work with as well. I really, really appreciate it. When the snowstorm hit a few weeks ago, we were all calling and pestering you to see what more could be done. Minister Sajjan called you, I called you. We were all connecting, all pulling together. But it's not just about pulling together in times of emergency, it's also times of pulling together to build a stronger future. And that's really what we're here today for this announcement.

Chief Paul, Terry, thank you for your extraordinary leadership in Membertou. It really is. 40 years of building an extraordinary community, an extraordinary future that isn't just focused on its own success, but making sure that we're spreading success across Cape Breton, across the province, across the country as well with your example and with your leadership. So, it's an incredible pleasure to be here today to talk about housing. And of course, I can't be here without recognizing first and foremost the extraordinary work and leadership of my two friends, Jaime Battiste and Mike Kelloway, our MPS here on Cape Breton Island.

(Applause)

If you could hear them back in Ottawa, constant advocates for Cape Breton constantly pushing for the kinds of things that Cape Bretoners are wanting and needing and building right now. It's really a pleasure to be here with you all today.

In 2017 we stepped up with a national housing strategy that actually has invested over $850 million through multiple different programs here in Nova Scotia for over 63,000 homes built, renovated, retrofitted, improved, rendered accessible. Real impacts over the years.

But we recognize that even as we're looking at housing that federal money helped contribute to, there needed to be a step change in the way we approach things. Because, yes, there were rapid housing programs and rental construction initiatives and reaching home, anti-homelessness initiatives and Indigenous partnerships programs, and those were all focused on building these units here or this apartment there or this complex here. And that's really important, we're going to continue to do those things, but we also needed a way to change the way and the speed housing was built in this country. That's where the housing accelerator comes in. We've now signed well over 50 agreements with municipalities and communities right across the country. And what they're focused on is actually looking at the tools that municipalities like the CBRM or Membertou First Nations, have to unlock even more housing faster in their communities.

So, it's looking at zoning, for example. As CBRM has done, bringing in the principle of six units as of right on any lot. That maximizes and augments people who want to expand their homes, people who want to build new properties, people who want to do a lot more to create opportunities for people to move into their neighbourhoods, to their communities. Increasing densification, particularly around city cores and transit stops. These are things so people can walk to and from the transit that's going to take them to work. Increasing the speed with which we process applications, giving municipalities the ability to cut red tape, giving people the opportunity to use more public land or non-profit land and convert that into housing.

These are the things that are going to unlock untold numbers of new housings over the coming decade because we're changing the way this is done. We're talking over 3000 new homes over the coming years in CBRM, close to 200 in Membertou. But really, once you've changed the way you build housing in a community, the sky's the limit in responding to the needs of growing prosperous communities where people want to live, where people want to move into. That's what this vision of rolling up our sleeves, getting things done in true partnership with municipal, with provincial, with First Nations, with community partners right across the country. And, there's great innovation going on across the country.

Just earlier this week, I was in B.C. where they put forward a program called B.C. Builds, where they offer financing to build more rental units, including three or four bedroom units for homes, for families to live in the communities they work. For far too often, particularly in our bigger cities, you get firefighters or nurses or teachers or tradespeople who live and work in the city but have to live hours away because of public transit, because of commute times, because they can't afford to live in the city. So, this B.C. Builds program is creating specific opportunities to finance affordable apartments for people to live in. And I've been encouraging across the country since then other provinces to step up with similar programs that the federal government is happy to come in and match dollar for dollar with the financing to unlock even more housing.

Yes, housing is a challenge right now, right across the country, but it's a challenge we've been able to solve before as a country. And we're going to solve it again, the way Canadians always solve things, by rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

It's such a great pleasure for me to be here, in Cape Breton, to highlight the investments of the Housing Accelerator Fund, which shows that we can not only invest to create units and homes across the country, but we can change the way homes are built. We're going to accelerate the construction of more housing across the country, more affordable housing, more communities where people can live well: that's the goal we all share together.

That's why I'm so glad to be back here in Cape Breton, so glad to be highlighting what happens when orders of government and partners work together, and so glad to continue to work hard to keep Canada the best country on the planet.