Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here today, gentlemen, to provide information and tell us about your experience.
To begin with, I will say to Mr. Shapcott that I tend to agree with him. To establish a housing development strategy, groups like community groups and private sector organizations, which are often the project managers, have to be able to take part in the consultation forums. They all come together. I don't remember the name exactly. It is an office for coordinating social development and social housing.
We have two programs, the provincial program and the federal program. The purpose of the federal program is to bring together proportionate amounts for cost-sharing, and it's called "Affordable Housing". In Quebec, it's called "AccèsLogis".
That coordinating office includes the municipalities. For some time, I was the representative of the Union of Quebec Municipalities. There are also private organizations, the large cities like Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Valleyfield and so on, and community groups, like FRAPRU, a very well-known group.
Where I want to get to is that at the point when we decide on a plan, based on the resources available to us, and there are also technical resource groups established in the various regions that help us, there are two major problems that sometimes arise. The biggest problem is being able to interest the private sector in developing affordable housing. In Quebec, that is the big challenge.
I would like to know the Federation's opinion when it comes to the private real estate sector. What is needed if we are to get the private sector to be more involved? I will then have a question for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.