Thank you very much.
Thank you very much to Blake Richards. I know this is something that he worked very, very diligently on. I had the opportunity to work on this as the shadow minister for families, children and social development—looking at the needs of these families and having the opportunity to speak to them as well.
I recognize that this government wants to come with the sign of compassion, but there are many programs that we see out there that need to have more flexibility.
My first question is with regard to the first-time home buyer incentive. I had put this into the record when I gave my speech on this.
Douglas Porter from BMO indicated:
The program will only apply to those with household income below $120,000, and with a maximum mortgage and incentive amount of 4-times.... As such, the impact will be contained to the lower end of the market below roughly $500,000 and, arguably, that’s the level where affordability challenges only really begin.
He continued to say that we'll understand the reality of these markets in both the greater Vancouver area and greater Toronto area, seeing that this incentive will actually not have the impact.
I went a little bit further. Last night, at 6:30 p.m. on May 15, there were only six listings on MLS for all of the greater Toronto area that would allow somebody to purchase a home for less than $500,000. The statistics from April 14 to May 12, covering 5,770 new listings, show that the The average home price in Toronto is $939,828.
How do you think this program will actually impact the housing market in Toronto and areas like Vancouver when only six homes in the greater Toronto area—only six—are available for this? Can you share with me how this is actually going to help the housing continuum in the area of Toronto?