Thank you, Chair.
My questions will be directed to former Statistics Canada chief economic analyst Philip Cross.
Mr. Cross, when Mr. Trudeau took office, you could buy the typical house for $434,000, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Now it's $811,000. That's 85% housing inflation in just six years. Last year, home inflation hit 25%, which the Canadian Real Estate Association chief economist called “the biggest gain of all time”.
Do you believe that the $400 billion of newly created cash that the government, through the central bank, pumped into the financial and mortgage markets and the resulting negative real interest rates on variable rate mortgages had an impact on the record-smashing housing inflation Canada witnessed last year?