Thank you.
I think the suggestion for us to form a subcommittee is a good one. We know how challenging it can be for all members to keep up, and this will help us take a focused dive into it.
Contrary to Mr. Sorbara's earlier comments, this committee made a recommendation that the Government of Canada ensure that further changes to Canada's mortgage regulations not occur until sufficient time had passed to assess the affects of the October 3, 2016, changes to regulations.
We made that recommendation with the data we had at the time. We had no issue making that recommendation, and then OSFI still went ahead with some of the changes that my colleague Mr. Kmiec has raised. I think that at one point we felt we had enough data to know that these changes needed to be digested further before any further action by the government. I think it's fair that his constituents have voiced those concerns. I have the same concerns from constituents.
But also in moving into what's called the uninsured portfolio, there are people who have had contrasting experiences to what MP Sorbara said, simply because they have now found out they are locked into a position. Because of the view of some institutions of people attempting to renew their mortgages, those people have been forced to take prices because they no longer qualify to go to another lender under the new stress test.
I'm concerned about the impact this has on those consumers, but more broadly, we did hear...and I attended quite proudly the mortgage professionals national conference in Niagara in December of last year, where there was widespread concern that this would affect the competitiveness of the market, where certain monoline lenders would be shunted aside. Again, we heard here from OSFI that this wasn't their job, that they just make the rules and that how the market then plays out was not up to them. I think it would be important for us now to see what structural changes have happened. It used to be that Canadian government policy was that you'd want to see a stable market accessible to home buyers, but we also wanted to see a competitive one. I think two-thirds of that former policy triangle is now being greatly challenged.
While I can certainly understand that not all members may want to participate in this, I think a subcommittee would be appropriate. I would be happy to participate. This is an issue that's not just important to my riding, but I'm also quite concerned about the competitiveness of this industry and its impacts on consumers, whether they be in a large urban centre like Toronto or Vancouver, or in a small local area like Keremeos, Logan Lake, or Quesnel in British Columbia. I'm thinking of all those places that would be impacted by this.
Mr. Chair, I would encourage members. You can still support this and allow someone else who feels very strongly about this to be on that subcommittee and know that this subcommittee would do a good job because I think we all respect each other's talents here on this committee.
Thank you.