Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for attending today and to all of those who are participating in this study. I've listened quite intently through the various presentations over the past couple of weeks.
I want to take a little bit of a different approach to the questions today, because many of the presentations are quite similar. Almost all ask for more money. Almost all cite issues with money getting to where it needs to go. Most cite bureaucratic hiccups along the way. I believe that the rental market and the purchase market are very much tied. If rents are high, then that impacts the price of a home.
I know that as Conservatives at this table we're probably in the minority. In fact I'd say we're probably the only party that sits at this table that doesn't believe that government is the answer to everything. In fact, I believe many of the issues that we find ourselves in today are due to government getting itself in the middle of where it shouldn't be.
The one issue I want to throw out here today, which I haven't heard anybody talk about—I don't think I've heard one single presentation mention it—is the issue of rent controls. I don't know which provinces have rent controls and which ones don't. I do know that Ontario does, because they apply to the apartment I rent in Ottawa as a member of Parliament. I know that in Alberta, for example, we've always resisted the idea of rent controls, and I don't think our housing problem in Alberta is anywhere near as dire as what has been presented from other parts of the country.
I'd like to hear a little bit more about what each one of the presenters thinks about rent controls and what impact rent controls have on the housing market in their particular province. I'll start with the Mayor of Newmarket.
Go ahead, please.