Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of the witnesses for being here.
Just before I begin, I want to say that based on the motion that the NDP member, Ms. Zarrillo, put forward, I'm really glad to hear that she's supporting a Conservative bill from last June called the fairness for flight attendants act by MP Lianne Rood. Conservatives take action, so I was really glad to hear that the NDP member is supporting our Conservative legislation.
I'll now move on to questioning. My first questions are for Hans Jain. You wrote an op-ed for Toronto Star last year entitled “Creating of affordable rental properties requires better financing”. In it, you wrote that “Developers...are challenged by the low predictability of outcomes when applying under CMHC's funding initiatives”, and that the CMHC policies are “inconsistent with the norms of real estate financing.”
At a time when building starts are actually down, and innovation in home building is required, do you believe red tape and bureaucracy from the federal housing agency are making it harder for builders like you to build affordable homes?