Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the member has raised the issue of housing. I would like to point out to him in fact that Canada is the only nation in the developed world that does not have a national housing policy. That policy was cancelled by the Liberals in the 1995 budget.
What has continued since that time is one of incremental band-aid pilot projects which do not meet the needs in this country for housing. There has not been a new initiative in terms of public housing, social housing, cooperative housing in this country since then because of what the Liberals did.
Why does the Conservative government continue the approach of the Liberals which does not address the fundamental issues pertaining to the shortage of affordable housing for Canadians? Let me remind him that the money that is being thrown around by both the Liberals and the Conservatives, the $1.5 billion for housing, comes directly from the New Democrats who required this as part of our budget with the Liberals in terms of the $4.6 billion that we required to be set aside so it would not go toward corporate tax breaks.
Is that why there is this continuation of pilot projects to the point where we are simply on the housing front a nation of pilot projects?