Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon, colleagues.
Thank you to the minister and everybody else for coming this afternoon. I appreciate what you do for us and for all Canadians.
I'll give you a hockey analogy. I do that often—maybe too much. You know, if I inherited a hockey team that, for the previous eight years, didn't spend a cent on marketing or enticing season ticket holders, and then I took that team and came up with a plan to increase my fan base and sell more tickets.... Those plans take time.
I know Ms. Bowers made the point last time we talked to CMHC, and it did stick with me, that CMHC wasn't in the housing business until 2015-16. These programs do take time. Sure, we have a serious situation across our country. People do need homes and people need homes that are affordable. I certainly applaud what we're doing. I think we're on the right track. We're making the right investments.
I came into politics when housing agreements were basically expired. Non-profits didn't know what was going to happen next. We came forth. We renewed and extended those agreements. We came up with a Canada housing benefit and the federal coinvestment fund. I don't know of a project in my riding.... Sure, it's bureaucratic.
Ms. Bowers, we talked about how I want to see CMHC become more entrepreneurial and less bureaucratic, and I know you take that point. I can name many projects in my riding that have benefited from CMHC's investment and from our government's investment.
Minister, you've been in the riding several times. I want to focus right now on the rapid housing initiative. I know we've had two successful rounds. We have round three. We just recently announced a $3.6-million investment to support 12 transitional housing units for Coverdale Centre for Women. It's a wonderful project. I want more of them in the riding. I certainly recognize that through budget 2022 we've made historic investments through the extension of the rapid housing initiative. I think it's a great program.
Minister, can you provide us with an update on the rollout of the investments made in budget 2022? Thank you.