What happened in that movie was basically true. I lived it and I saw it.
We have a very resilient housing market. But we also have CMHC, which is effectively backstopped by the Canadian taxpayer. So any government, Conservative or Liberal, needs to be prudent.
In my last session, I said, “Looking at the trends, isn't it prudent for any government, when CMHC is effectively backstopped by the taxpayers of Canada, to implement measures designed to improve the quality of indebtedness for borrowers going forward?” I think it is prudent for any government, be it on the Liberal side or in the past on the Conservative side, to do so. I continue to believe it and I think many of the measures that were introduced by the federal government, Liberal or Conservative—because the changes started under the past administration—are prudent and need to be put in place.
I want to make that remark, because I think it's important to be on the record. We're not trying to not have people enter the housing market. We just want to make sure that the level invested is manageable. We do have regional markets, I agree.
On the consultation point, I remember in my past life that the past administration made a big change to something called the income trust market. They announced it about 4:45 p.m., after the market closed, and that market basically collapsed. Income trusts, at the time, were a pretty popular thing for a lot of companies to do, issuing cash to shareholders and so forth, and the market collapsed.
The Conservative party broke that promise. They said they would never tax income trusts and they did. They didn't consult, particularly when they didn't tax the prices of publicly traded securities. It affects behaviour.
Consultation is important, I agree; I get it. But when certain measures need to be introduced, when there is an impact and when there will be an impact on market behaviour, individual behaviour, sometimes measures need to be introduced. So let's put this on the record.
I have one question to end this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.