Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today on this bill that was proposed by my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou.
This is a very important issue and he knows it quite well. Indeed, having been the director of the Fédération des coopératives d'habitation de Québec, Chaudière-Appalaches, he knows well the situation and the lack of commitment of this government toward the poorest in our society. In fact, when he was running for member of Parliament, he committed to making social housing one of his first battles here in the House of Commons. The bill before us today illustrates well his motivation to become a member of Parliament and to talk about this important issue.
I heard the speech of the previous speaker. However, perhaps we might also talk about one of the administrators of the CMHC who praises this corporation. Far be it from me to denigrate the corporation's work. However, as members of Parliament, our mandate is to respond to people's expectations. We must carefully look into what is happening in the field. Given the speech that I just heard, I see that the member is lacking some numbers and some sensitivity toward what is occurring with the people.
I would like to point out that 1.7 million families in Canada and 393,000 families in Quebec have extreme housing needs. The member should be aware of these figures if he wants to try and express what a majority of people are going through everyday. Some Canadians are paying 30%, 50% or even 80% of their income for suitable, adequate accommodation. One of the most important missions of the CMHC should be to help Canadians and Quebeckers secure a better standard of housing.
For a number of years now, there has been a crisis in Quebec and in Canada every year when leases are due for renewal. We know that in some regions, the vacancy rate is as low as 0.5%. There often is a shift in the population towards the inner cities. The member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve made an eloquent speech in this regard to explain what was going on in his riding.
The situation is also alarming in Beauport—Limoilou. In the Quebec riding, the pressure is very strong because of the vacancy rate. We all know where the responsibility went: it now lies with the Quebec government that created an assistance program or investment fund to help those who could not find affordable housing.
Contrary to this government's grand-sounding speeches, it has not put new money into housing since 1994. This government's heavyweights tell us that $1 billion a year is invested by the government in social housing. However, this only pays for mortgages on the housing stock that existed prior to 1994. That hardly squares with what we heard from the Liberal Party member sitting in this House.
Today, thanks to a Bloc member, a bill was brought forward that requires no royal recommendation to transfer that huge amount lying idle in CMHC's coffers in order for it to fulfil its purpose. It is being said that by December at the latest, $4 billion in excess funds would be in the coffers. We could revert to an ancient practice according to which 1% of the monies could be earmarked for re-investment in social housing. I understand that a reserve fund is necessary, that reserves must be created and that the government must be in a position to meet challenges should mortgage insurance programs lapse into a deficit.
We know that this has been the case in certain years, where several mortgage loans and insurance policies were not honoured. But keeping a $4 billion surplus would be going too far. There is a margin between keeping 0% surplus in this fund and keeping $4 billion. It would have been possible to revert to an older practice and to reduce that reserve amount in the CMHC.