Thank you very much.
I hope you're right, Mr. Campbell, in your assertion that Canadians are careful borrowers. I have concern. There is a growing concern about the personal debt bubble in Canada at $1.50 for every dollar value of income. It's unprecedented for Canada. It's higher than that of our previously thought to be spendthrift cousins to the south.
The Economist magazine stated, in the February 4 edition, “When the United States saw a vast housing bubble inflate and burst during the 2000s, many Canadians felt smug...”, and “During the crash, Canadian house prices fell by just 8%, compared with more than 30% in America”. But the Canadian housing prices hit new record highs by 2010. It quotes Prime Minister Harper saying, “Canada was not a part of the problem”.
The Economist goes further, stating, “Today the consensus is growing on Bay Street...that Mr. Harper may have to eat his words”. It goes further—the slowdown in emerging markets, the fact that housing prices have doubled, or have grown significantly, particularly in places like Vancouver and Toronto.
Don't you share this concern, that we have a housing bubble, which is closely related to a personal debt bubble, in many Canadian centres today?