In the first sentence, after the words “the finance committee”, it says, “investigate the potential of a U.S.-style real estate decline taking place in Canada, the resultant impact on homeowners and those dependent on the...”. So I'm deleting from “investigate” to “on the” and substituting “study the state of the Canadian” and then, “housing market”. So the first sentence would read: “That the finance committee study the state of the Canadian housing market...” and the rest of it would stay the same.
My reason for the amendment, for me to be able to support the motion, is twofold. One, my interpretation of what the Governor of the Bank of Canada said today is that there is a substantial difference between the U.S. housing market system and the Canadian market system. I think the way it's worded is a little alarmist, and I don't think it's done on purpose. Even last night there was a show on one of the major networks about the U.S. market and housing in Arizona and what's happening there. People are losing their homes and walking away.
I don't think they're the same issues, based on the system we have here as opposed to what they have there. I don't mind Mr. Turner's approach of studying the Canadian housing market system. He did reference that there are some changes, and those changes are in the second part, which I'm not touching. To improve the wording of the motion, I think “studying the state of the Canadian housing market” without the “U.S.-style real estate decline”.... I think those are assumptions that are being made that don't necessarily reflect what may or may not be happening, and that's why I'm moving that amendment.