Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the witnesses who are with us this morning for this important study.
Ms. Laflamme, thank you for all the work you've done in Quebec over the years to defend people who are in difficulty and need housing.
You were quite clear in your introduction about the fact that there are 1.6 million households in Canada that spend more than 30% of their incomes on housing, which leaves them in a precarious position and, in many instances, in poverty. You've taken stock of Canada's national housing strategy, which was introduced in 2017, under which more than $40 billion has been spent. Despite all that spending, the strategy hasn't really met people's needs. Another approximately $40 billion still remains to be spent under it.
Affordable housing has often been defined, for example, as housing at a price equal to or less than 80% of the average market price. However, you argue, based on reverse logic, that we need social housing at a price that shouldn't be determined by the market but rather by people's capacity to pay so that it doesn't exceed 25% of their income.
How could we use the $40 billion remaining under Canada's national housing strategy to build housing at a price that will be determined by people's capacity to pay, not by the market?