Now let me turn the discussion to the issue of housing. You are absolutely right to remind us here that, for the fight against poverty to be effective, we must accept that far too many people are spending a significant part of their income on housing.
I am sure that you know that the federal government got out of any form of social housing as long ago as 1993. There was an affordable housing program, but there is no low-cost housing program anywhere to which the federal government contributes, though it plays a role in housing co-ops. There are co-operative housing agreements that are coming to an end.
Is not the best way to ensure that that there is a viable and reasonable supply of social housing in our communities to establish transfer policies in the provinces? Could the provinces not play a far more useful role? Does the initiative have to come from the federal government only?