Yes. I know we've heard at this committee concerns raised about the level of household debt from the Bank of Canada. We've certainly seen in the media concerns about this, from our major banks, from the IMF, from the OECD. Our level of debt has risen significantly, about fourfold since the beginning of the 1990s, and the pace of the increase of debt has created a lot of concern.
The Royal Bank recently identified this issue of household debt as the major challenge to the Canadian economy. There have been many concerns about whether the financial position of Canadian households is sustainable going forward or whether there are going to be significant cutbacks on the part of Canadian households, and what the impact of that will be on our economy.
We are at the greatest level of household indebtedness ever. Some are very concerned about it. Others say it is manageable. I think it's incumbent upon this committee to really determine why household debt is rising so significantly. There are some obvious things one could point to, like rising housing prices, but I think there are other factors that should be looked at as well. I think it will be the responsible thing for this committee, following an examination of household debt, to then make recommendations going forward so that the House of Commons and our members of Parliament can be better informed on this issue and so that the government and the House can take appropriate action if necessary.