Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On behalf of the 95,000 members of our association who are realtors in this country, I wish to thank you for allowing us to present before your committee today.
Our members, Mr. Chairman, are small business people who are involved in their community and contribute to both the life and the economy of that community. Our association also owns, as many of you would know, the familiar MLS and Realtor trademarks. These are marks that are used by our members and indicate their strict adherence to our code of ethics.
In our pre-budget submission document already submitted to you, we list several specific recommendations that have tremendous economic and social benefit. These include establishing a comprehensive federal housing strategy, raising the borrowing limit for individuals under the home buyers' plan, allowing deferral of capital gains tax and recaptured capital costs for real property investments, and action to address what can only be described as an aboriginal housing crisis.
Mr. Chairman, we believe Canada can never fully achieve its economic potential unless its citizens have access to suitable housing. The way to do that is with the development of a federal housing strategy. A federal strategy would tie all existing and new initiatives together, and emphasize that housing and shelter are national priorities that are beyond any jurisdictional debate.
That federal housing strategy should outline the government's plan to combat homelessness, provide assistance to those in housing need, maintain national housing standards, and promote home ownership as the preferred option for most Canadians.
Any federal housing strategy should also include support for the national homebuyers plan. It is a true government policy success story that combines savings for a home with savings for retirement. We're asking that the borrowing limits under the plan be raised for the first time in 15 years, just to cover the rate of inflation.
A federal housing strategy would also spell out how the government's proposed first nations market housing fund can help to ease the aboriginal housing crisis.
Mr. Chairman, I'd like to also highlight a specific tax policy recommendation that would improve the prosperity and productivity of both citizens and businesses. This is our proposal for the rollover of capital gains tax to encourage reinvestment in Canadian communities.
We are talking about investments by ordinary Canadians. These are our neighbours. They are people who invest in duplexes, other types of rental housing, and small commercial properties. From time to time, some would like to sell and reinvest either in another community or in a different type of property, but they are not selling because they're trying to avoid the tax penalty known as the “lock-in” effect.
Our proposal would make the federal government an active and effective partner in the regeneration and intensification of urban neighbourhoods. It would help generate more affordable rental housing. It would not be limited to housing rentals, but would apply to all small-scale investments generating both social and economic benefits.
Some think that capital gains tax deferrals only benefit the wealthy.
Research prepared for our association has produced some interesting evidence showing that, in fact, the opposite is true. For example, recent data obtained from Statistics Canada shows that in 2005, two-thirds of all taxpayers reporting real property gains had an annual net income of $50,000 or less. These are the small-scale middle-class investors at the centre of our proposal.
Mr. Chairman, the capital gains tax deferral issue also remains an unfulfilled campaign promise. Canadians know that complex files such as these require careful analysis, consideration, and, most importantly, the clear support of all parties, particularly in the context of a minority Parliament. We urge you to recommend that it be a priority item for next year's federal budget.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.