Thank you.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. It is a pleasure to meet leading authorities in economics such as yourselves. By the way, I always appreciate a reference text with presentations. Then we at least have a written document after a presentation.
Earlier, I understood the fact that we are not living on an island: we depend on foreign markets, especially the one in the United States. I would like to explore a topic that my colleagues did not. That is housing. I believe Mr. Dupuis or Mr. Leitao mentioned it. The concern was the slowing of housing construction in the United States, which certainly affects us too. Here, it continued at relatively stable levels, but I am under the impression that the growth is currently losing speed. That is what I have read, anyway.
Since these are pre-budget consultations, dealing with the economic choices that the government has to make, I was wondering if it was doing enough for housing. I am specifically thinking about the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that is accumulating billions of dollars at the moment. Could those billions be better used for non-profit community-owned and affordable housing that the country is surely in sore need of? Is this not a category, a kind of government investment that produces most economic spinoffs, compared with huge purchases of military aircraft manufactured abroad, say in the United States? In terms of job creation, would it not be more effective by comparison to invest more heavily in affordable housing for the country?
Perhaps I will start with Mr. Dupuis.