Mr. Speaker, the first question is what will it mean to Canadians if the mortgage insurance fund is capped at $100 billion. That is the point. We have a delay in the time between when mortgages are approved by local lenders and when we get the full figures for a year. We need to have it retroactive to 1994 to cover the fact that in that year there were more than $100 million worth of loans insured. That would be a huge problem for CMHC.
The other important point is what it would mean to Canadians if it were capped at that level. CMHC's ability to assist Canadians to access home ownership would be curtailed dramatically. It would mean that the 3,944 Canadians in the riding of the member for Comox-Alberni would be the last to achieve home ownership through these means. It also would mean that rural Canadians would be faced with even more obstacles when planning to purchase a home.
We can look at all the negatives and talk about the collapse of the economy. We would be in all kinds of problems if we had a huge collapse of the economy in any event. We have to look at the important role CMHC plays in building our country, in building home ownership, in building our housing stock and in helping the economy. If we can expand the amount of home ownership insurance CMHC can provide, we can expand the amount of housing activity.
I do not know about the member's riding but in my riding and in my region of Atlantic Canada, and I think across most of Canada, there is a need for increased activity in the housing sector. There
are real problems in that sector. People need to have a shot in the arm. This will help not only that whole sector, which will boost the economy, but it will help people who want to own their own homes.