Ms. Bowers, with all due respect to the minister and to you as the CMHC program administrator, I feel like we're rolling along and that nothing will really change the current housing crisis. I fear that, in six months, we'll be back here and nothing will have changed.
As you indicated, the national housing strategy is an $82 billion plan, funded by taxpayers. Its goal should be to reduce the pressure on individuals seeking affordable or social housing.
I won't ask you to comment on the government's decision regarding the goods and services tax (GST). The GST exemption can incentivize housing construction, but there's no guarantee for renters that rents will drop. A lot of housing will need to be built before rents go down.
I'll ask the question I asked earlier again. There are existing measures that could be implemented now. CMHC boast about the benefits of the national housing co‑investment fund. However, in Quebec, thousands of low-income housing units, which are subject to a bilateral agreement between Quebec and Ottawa, are boarded up because CMHC is refusing to emit payment, because the amount exceeds the initial renovation costs.
Is that correct?