Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our guests for being here today. I certainly appreciate your coming and giving the committee a bit of a better understanding of your opinion.
Some of the best advice I ever received was to think of people, not for them. When I read this, it sounds as if your agency is thinking for people. You said, “Action was needed to address the level of household indebtedness in Canada, which is now at a historic high of 167%”. That is probably true, but it doesn't necessarily address housing debt.
We've had witness after witness come and say that when someone can get into the market.... Bear in mind that many people of the baby boom generation came in at double-digit interest rates. They did so because they felt, first, that a home gave them a place for their family, for safety; and second, it allowed them to put away money into forced savings, so to speak, and it allowed them to have the privilege of home ownership, which I think is important.
I think what you're doing here with your comments is somewhat construing the situation to sound as if it is all mortgage debt that is causing the problem, but we've heard very clearly that access to credit card debt, access to financing loans for cars or for other non-durable goods, unlike a home, is an issue.
When you say, “Highly-indebted borrowers are more likely to be younger, first-time homebuyers”, are you not also saying that when people finally get into market, they're going to be older and they're going to be kept out of the market for longer? I'm just trying to get a sense of where you're going with this.