Mr. Speaker, it is a pressing need. If we want to create jobs in this country, why not go to work and do an energy retrofit of all of the high-rises in cities across the country? In Toronto, we have more high-rise apartments than any other city in the country. A lot of them were built in the 1960s and 1970s. They are not very energy efficient. Imagine the jobs that could be created.
Jack Layton had a system whereby we could invest in this energy efficiency and pay for it over time from the money we saved from reduced energy costs.
I just want to say one other thing about the pressing need for housing, because it really does take the federal government's involvement. We had a horrible tragedy in our city in the last week. A young mother and her kids were killed and subsequently her husband died. It seems that she went from a shelter, where she was trying to escape violence, to a private apartment. She could not afford it. There was no transition housing. She had to go back to that dangerous situation. Now she and her kids are dead. If that is not a crying argument for housing, I do not know what is.