Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This is a question for Ms. Furlong.
I found the points around net direct foreign investment interesting, because there are two components here. There's the amount that Canadian firms are investing in other countries and there's the amount that firms from other countries are investing here in Canada.
There are two aspects to my question.
First of all, Canada is home to some 60% of the world's mining companies. I think that has to do with our unique treatment of those companies, either tax-wise or regulatory-wise, and it seems that skews the number quite significantly.
The second point is that you noted direct foreign investment in real estate, which I think has had, when it comes to residential real estate, a really detrimental effect on the price of housing and the housing crisis in the Lower Mainland. If we're to see more direct foreign investment in real estate through things like real estate investment trusts, in my mind, that would be something that runs counter to our national interest.
Should we be looking to other metrics to describe the health of our economy? It seems like these are two inherently problematic aspects of using net direct foreign investment.