Mr. Speaker, I have to agree with my colleague from the NDP that there was a lot of humour in the speech by the member for Markham—Unionville.
Prior to being elected to this place, I spent at least a dozen years working in the Toronto area on housing-related issues and I think I know the file pretty well. I remember back in 2005, with the previous Liberal government, when the minister of housing at the time, who is now the mayor of the city of London, brought in an affordable housing agreement that was so restrictive, had so many clauses and other caveats in it, that the provinces and the City of Toronto of the day could not actually get access to the federal money to implement the program. The program was written so restrictively that nobody could use the money.
What did our government do? Our government said we should have maximum flexibility in our funding agreements with provinces and municipalities, make sure local needs are respected, and that way all of the money would flow through the provincial affordable housing agreements.
Can the member for Markham—Unionville tell the House why the last Liberal government really did not fund affordable housing in the city of Toronto?