Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for rejoining us here at OGGO once again. We always appreciate your coming here and providing your insights and your testimony.
You know, the number one issue that I hear about when I speak with young people in my community, students at the University of Windsor and at St. Clair College and young people who are getting their apprentices completed, is housing. I hear the same thing when I talk to seniors as well; housing is their number one priority.
The previous Conservative government, when it was in power and when the current Conservative Leader of the Opposition was the minister of housing at the time, lost 800,000 low-cost rental apartments. They also eliminated any federal involvement in the co-op housing program. They pulled the federal government out of the business of housing. They're coming back right now with plans. Their plan, if you look at it and delve into it, is to add additional taxes to the construction of rental housing. They also want to withhold critical infrastructure dollars for municipalities wanting to build additional housing.
Now, we the Liberal government have a different plan. We want to build 3.9 million homes in the next number of years. A critical aspect of getting those 3.9 million homes built is converting surplus federal lands into housing. It's a critical piece. It's part of the public lands for homes plan.
I was really excited to see in this budget that the Department of National Defence is working with the Canada Lands Company and other partners to dispose of 14 surplus properties, including one in my hometown in Windsor, which is the HMCS Hunter building right downtown. It's a perfect opportunity to build housing and revitalize our downtown core, because it's important. It's been sitting vacant for years.
I know that you're leading the rapid review of the federal lands portfolio, so I want to ask: Can you share with this committee some of the measures that are being undertaken and led by your department in this rapid review?