Evidence of meeting #69 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was witnesses.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I certainly appreciate this having been put together and the work of the subcommittee.
The only thing I would suggest is that the housing market study seems to be awfully centred around government agencies, or the government minister in this case. I know there was a lot of desire for further witnesses.
Is there a possibility that we could extend to have more testimony from other groups that would like to come before the committee but who have not had the opportunity?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
It's not up to me to decide. What is the view from around the table?
I think what we talked about at the steering committee was having maybe one or two more witnesses. There is getting to be a fair bit of repetition. We did talk about the possibility of....
There was a request from one bank that had come forward. We heard from the Canadian Bankers Association, so that covers them. Having one or two more witnesses and the minister and officials was where we ended the discussion at the committee.
Ms. O'Connell.
Liberal
Jennifer O'Connell Liberal Pickering—Uxbridge, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, there are two things we must factor in, and this was a previous motion by Mr. McColeman with the deadline of the end of February. We have to keep in mind the study limitations and the meeting day limitations. That's the first thing.
The second thing is that at the subcommittee, as the chair just said, we went through the list that the clerk has received of those interested, and they were relatively the same types of organizations, so we didn't feel that the testimony would be that different.
In my opinion, we have heard from a variety of those who are affected. From those who have submitted their interest, it has already been established that it is repetitive in terms of the type of testimony that we would hear.
I think this is a good end point, and then on the 22nd, drafting our instructions so we can keep on time and move forward with tabling this report.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
For the committee's further consideration, what we just argued about shows that when the government wants to change the direction of this committee, we can still have an extra hour or two to make sure we hear from people, because we are technically masters of our own domain.
Also, just be mindful that we heard from a monoline lender, from the Credit Union Association, and we heard from the banking association. We heard from an individual mortgage broker, but we did not hear from an individual bank or an individual credit union. I will say that I have received inquiries from other financial institutions that want to talk about this. Again, it is important to have someone in Ottawa to be able to make representations, but they do not deal with the clients, and I think that's an important point.
If the government side is willing to have an extra hour where we can allow some of those voices.... I agree that we've heard a lot, but it may behoove us to talk to people who deal with people on the ground in a highly localized market, rather than in an aggregated view.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Any further discussion, or any motions to change the schedule?
Mr. Sorbara.
Liberal
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We've heard from a pretty broad swath of the market in terms of all the stakeholders. We've heard from some builders. We heard from the Canadian Home Builders' Association. We heard from the Canadian Bankers Association. The CEO of CMHC is going to visit us. We are hearing from the participants in the market.
I see no need to add further hours to this study. We've done a pretty exhaustive and great job in asking questions and looking at the issues at hand.
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am not opposed to hearing other witnesses, particularly if they are from the banking sector, caisses populaires or credit unions.
I realize that one way or another we will have an hour available perhaps on February 13 or 15. If the minister and officials are not available on February 13, but are available on the 15th, we would have an additional hour on the 13th to hear these new witnesses. Consequently I suggest that we hear them on February 13, if the minister is not available.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
I think Mr. Caron makes an excellent suggestion because we haven't heard from anyone from the caisse populaires. I'll make the motion that we extend the study by an hour, and invite credit unions, caisse populaires, as well as banks, so that they can round out the study.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
The motion is on the floor. It is in order because we are on the subject matter.
You're not naming a specific representative of the banks. I know the CIBC was one as well.
Is there any further discussion on the motion to extend the study by an hour to hear from several more witnesses, including the banks and caisse populaires?
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Just give them a minute. They look like they're still thinking it over.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
You can hear the wheels turning.
(Motion negatived)
We will go with the schedule as it has been put to the committee.
Any further discussion on the schedule? Any other business?
Can we have a motion to adopt the schedule as presented by the clerk?
Liberal