Mr. Speaker, I have another question for the member.
Insurance exists in the private sector. Insurance is there whenever there is the need to protect against some sort of hazard. One of the hazards is that occasionally mortgages will be defaulted.
It is the belief of Liberal governments that in fact the private sector will provide inadequate coverage for such risks, so the government has to step in. If in fact the insurance that is being provided is profitable then there is no need for the government to step in, because the private sector would do it.
It is not reasonable at the same time to say it will not cost anything, that it is only something we are facilitating in the economy and it does not cost anything. If it does not cost anything, why is the government doing it? Everyone knows that whenever such activities get privatized efficiency goes up and consumers are more satisfied. So why is the government in there? It is because it is subsidizing an activity.
The question then becomes: Why subsidize housing? Why not subsidize food, cars? Why not subsidize clothing? There are all kinds of things that are essential for human life. We are running out of finances in this country. We are going bankrupt.
What do we do as we are going bankrupt? We take over a function the private sector could provide, but of course it is not doing it adequately. It is not giving enough subsidy. So here we are creating a program that gives more subsidy to an activity that some believe is no more worthy and no less worthy than any other of the kinds of things we consume in Canada.
Is there a prima facie case for the fact that this activity of the organization that is having its liabilities raised by $50 billion is one that requires a subsidy in the form of contingent liability? Could the member please explain to us, since she has studied the subject, how big the contingent liability is that Canadians see when they look at the annual budget?