International Trade committee  No, I haven't.

International Trade committee  I think you're correct in that I understand why Canada would impose a tax on large swaths of land because of the larger problem that it creates. What I believe about that is really not relevant. That's for you to decide. I suppose what I would ask each of you to consider is whether or not this tax, the vacant and underutilized tax, was intended to affect communities.

International Trade committee  I don't know. I would push to have it done as soon a possible, but we're approaching this from several different angles, including that one. My objective would be just to continue raising concerns about this. We are all economic actors. When we're confident, we move. When we aren't, we don't.

International Trade committee  No, not a federal tax.... Obviously, there are jurisdictions that also have taxing authority, be it a county in Florida or a state. They certainly may exist. Perhaps that is where this is different. There isn't a federal tax on property owned by Canadians, for example. I wouldn't be familiar with that.

International Trade committee  I'm a member of the House of Representatives ways and means committee and the subcommittee on trade. I helped in the development of the trade agreement. I believe that—I've shared this with many of you—we should have had a binational approach to a tri-national agreement. Canada is a country of 38 million people.

International Trade committee  I'm sorry. Go ahead.

International Trade committee  The tax treaty of 1984...? Is that what you mentioned, sir?

International Trade committee  I think it depends on the geographic area. I think some areas are more affected than others. In this case, you talk about urban versus rural and those distinctions. Buffalo is an urban centre. Niagara Falls, New York, is an urban centre. That's one of the reasons I think Canada—and those beaches I talked about in particular—is an attractive place.

International Trade committee  The 28-day exemption I was not familiar with, because the people who we're hearing from typically spend time in their cottages, as I mentioned, from Memorial Day at the end of May through the beginning of September. A lot of those folks are subject to that taxation. You make that distinction between urban and rural.

International Trade committee  There are what they would refer to as “affordable housing shortages”. There's a lot of housing. Much of it is not accessible to people of modest means. That's an ongoing issue in New York State, but it's an ongoing issue in the United States generally. When you see areas like San Francisco, they're going through a lot of urban challenges.

International Trade committee  There are things like affordable housing tax credits and providing tax incentives for developers to build in areas they historically would not. That is a strategy that we've used. Has there been some success? Yes. Is it all the success we hoped for? No.

International Trade committee  In Canada...?

International Trade committee  As I mentioned, historical tax credits and affordable housing tax credits are used to provide market-based incentives for developers to undertake those kinds of projects that would make housing available for people of modest means. The nature of developers, as you know, is to speculate about not the current value of property but the future value of property.

International Trade committee  No, I'm not. I guess you wouldn't expect that, because you're imposing or creating a new policy as it relates to taxation. The Canadian government's primary concern is going to be Canadian citizens, as would be the case when the United States takes actions. This situation is unique, because it affects a northern border community that I represent.

International Trade committee  I would agree that.... I use Toronto and Vancouver as densely developed areas, and one of the members of Parliament who spoke previously indicated there are other more densely developed areas. I understand that. I think a cottage is a small house that's near a lake or a beach and that's used on a seasonal basis.