Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses.
On the housing issue, I would like to first establish this fact. The housing crisis, as Mr. Vaughan indicated, really began in the mid-1990s, and of course Mr. Vaughan will know that in 1993 the federal Liberal government cancelled the national affordable housing program. That was under the Liberal government, under Paul Martin. As a result of that, this country lost more than half a million units of affordable housing that would otherwise have been built across the country. So imagine what our country would look like today if we had an additional half a million units of affordable or co-op housing. Therefore, the housing crisis we're in is in part a result of the Liberal government's action.
That said, we do have a situation, and I would argue that the need for affordable housing is across the board. I see it in my community in British Columbia, in Vancouver East, absolutely, but I see it across the country as well. This situation of course is challenged because of the asylum seekers coming over. Mr. Vaughan talked about a national affordable housing plan. Let me just establish this fact as well. It's good that the federal government has come back to the table—I will say that. However, 90% of the funding for that national affordable housing plan will not flow until after the next election, and that is a bit of a challenge as well—