Thank you very much.
Mr. Sondhi, according to a study you conducted, 3.8 million housing units have to be built to restore some degree of affordability.
It's as though there are two housing crises right now. First, access to housing is a problem. The second issue is housing affordability, meaning it is hard for people to find housing they can afford.
On a housing tour in Quebec, I kept hearing that federal programs focus primarily on affordability right now. In other words, money is being lent to builders to build housing at 80% of market value. That means however that taxpayers’ dollars raised from government taxes are being used to build one-bedroom units in Longueuil going for $1,300 per month—which I find absolutely unacceptable—and two-bedroom units in Montreal for $2,000. Through our taxes and income tax, we are all paying part of the construction costs for housing for the rich.
Building housing is not enough; we absolutely need to build reasonably priced housing, something people can afford. We need housing at $600, $700 or $800 per month, social housing.
How can this problem be solved, Mr. Sondhi?