Mr. Speaker, I do not think anyone in this place doubts the parliamentary secretary's sincerity. I think this is a subject where all parliamentarians in this place can come together.
In the report, I would draw the member's attention to recommendation seven which, at the end, recommends that the government “work with provincial and municipal governments as well as service provider organizations to ensure resettled Yazidi women and children have improved access to housing which is affordable.”
Before the parliamentary secretary starts talking about the national housing strategy, I want to provide some context and contrast. Yes, the national housing strategy is celebrated as a $40-billion investment over a 10-year period, but a large chunk of that is, in fact, coming from provincial governments and service provider organizations. Furthermore, the lion's share of it is not going to start flowing until 2020.
I discovered an interesting thing a few weeks ago when I substituted on the government operations committee. We found out that the money for the Kinder Morgan purchase of $4.5 billion was outside of the main budgetary process. The money was actually obtained from Export Development Canada and transferred to Trans Mountain Corporation.
Would the hon. member not agree that another Crown corporation, perhaps the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, also deserves a $4.5-billion loan to start building the housing right here and now to address the crisis that we not only have for Yazidi refugees but for many Canadians across the country who may not be able to afford to wait until 2020 or 2021? Will he not agree that maybe a $4.5-billion transfer to CMHC would be a smart idea, if the government is able to afford it for a pipeline?