Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the list is as follows: from the Department of Finance Canada, Rob Stewart, assistant deputy minister, financial sector policy branch; from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Michel Tremblay, senior vice-president, policy, research and public affairs, and Michel Laurence, vice-president, housing markets and indicators; from Statistics Canada, Brenda Bugge, chief, macroeconomic accounts branch; from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Vlasios Melessanakis, director, policy development; from the Bank of Canada, Alexandra Lai, director, financial stability department; from the Canada Revenue Agency, Robert Greene, acting director, legislative policy and regulatory affairs branch; from the City of Toronto, Peter Wallace, city manager; from the City of Vancouver, Patrice Impey, general manager, finance, and Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, general manager, community services; from the Government of British Columbia, Heather Wood, assistant deputy minister, policy and legislation division--finance; from the Government of Ontario, Brian Lewis, assistant deputy minister and chief economist, office of economic policy--finance, and Allan Doheny, assistant deputy minister, provincial local finance division--finance, and Robert Lowry, director, municipal funding policy branch--finance.
With regard to (b), the working group is studying the current state of the Canadian housing market and reviewing the broad range of factors that affect supply and demand for housing, the issue of affordability, and the stability of the housing market.
With regard to (c), each participating jurisdiction is covering the costs associated with its own work related to the working group. At the federal level, the costs have been covered through existing resources of each organization. The Department of Finance Canada paid to host the first two meetings of the working group, as follows: July 14, 2016, $797.78 for a full day meeting, including breakfast, lunch, coffee, tea, juice; and September 13, 2016, $82.21 for an afternoon meeting, including coffee, tea, juice.
With regard to (d), there have been two meetings, both held at the Department of Finance Canada in Ottawa, one on July 14, 2016, and another on September 13, 2016.
With regard to (e), the Department of Finance Canada meets with industry on a regular basis to discuss developments, and we expect the same is true for the other members.
With regard to (f), the group will continue to collaborate throughout the next few months.
With regard to (g), the group’s work is intended to provide information and analysis on housing issues of common interest to the participating jurisdictions. To encourage frank and productive discussions amongst officials, they intend to debrief internally within their respective jurisdictions.