Thank you.
I want to stick with the housing accelerator fund because it seems to be the topic of discussion today.
You talked about working with municipalities. I've had to sit in the House and listen to the nonsensical tag lines, the bumper sticker solutions, in terms of “Get rid of the gatekeepers” and nonsense like that.
Having come from the municipal sector, I'll tell you that municipalities across the country have been building a record number of houses up until the time of the pandemic. They were breaking municipal records. They were in Hamilton. I know that in Ontario, the area that I come from, they were doing much the same in different areas. To say that municipalities aren't doing enough and then to demonize mayors and councillors for not doing their fair shares when, for the last 30 years, they were the only ones, by and large, across the country who were doing their fair share on the affordable housing scene.... They were cash poor and land rich and had to find unique ways, then, to build affordable housing units and housing supply.
Like you, I find it difficult to listen to some of the comments in terms of “they had their opportunity”. The FCM and municipalities across Canada begged and pleaded for support. It didn't come, and hence came the national housing strategy.
I want you to, if you could, reference how important it is...instead of demonizing municipalities and blaming them for the situation that we're in. This is very much where we were with former premier Harris when he demonized municipalities for not doing enough, and then he talked about amalgamation and all of those other things and how it was the “common sense revolution”.
Mr. Chair, we heard this week the common sense plan—very much like what we heard from a former Conservative premier in Ontario—demonizing municipalities for not doing their parts.
I'm just hoping, Minister, that you could talk very briefly about why it's important to work with our partners and work with municipalities, who've done their fair share, and illustrate what contrasts we have in terms of our approach to dealing with our partners in that space.