Indeed, I am, Chair. Good morning to you.
Good morning to my colleagues.
Thank you very much to our witnesses for your testimony. It's very much appreciated.
I have just a few comments before I ask Mr. Irwin a couple of questions.
We came forth in 2017 with the national housing strategy, and I think we recognized that the federal government needed to take a larger role in the building and development of apartments, houses and what have you. We all recognize that it's provincial jurisdiction, but the federal government has a role to play.
Whether it's through programs like the coinvestment program, the rapid housing initiative, the housing accelerator fund or other initiatives, we are taking a leadership role. I know certainly in my riding of Saint John—Rothesay, my communities appreciate the funding that has come from the federal government.
I actually want to also mention that the Conservative Party voted against all of those gestures. I know the role of the loyal opposition is to oppose programs, and that's fair. However, I think it's also incumbent on them to come up with solutions as opposed to just criticize. To this date, I have yet to hear anything constructive to address the problem.
Mr. Irwin, I want to talk to you about my province of New Brunswick. There's an article that came out here a few weeks ago, and I'll just read it. It says, “Housing starts in New Brunswick lagging further behind Maritime neighbours in early 2024”. They did a comparison to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and our housing starts are far behind.
I would very readily say that Premier Higgs has been derelict in the responsibility of taking a leadership role in housing here. Obviously, he doesn't feel that the removal of the GST tax has any impact, and he didn't match that like Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island did.
Mr. Irwin, how important was the move that we made to spur apartment builds? What are your comments on whether the premier made the right decision by not joining us on that?
Thank you and good morning.