Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we recognize, as the government and the Prime Minister have, the needs that Canadians actually have, in a very real and tangible way. In fact, the Prime Minister, who was just elected six months ago, has taken a number of initiatives to support home ownership into the future.
We could talk about the legislation that has enabled first-time homebuyers to be exempt from having to pay the GST. We can talk about the Build Canada Homes agency, which is going to be there to ensure that we are able to meet the future demands on housing. It is in a relatively short time span that we have seen initiatives of this nature.
We could do a contrast, not only in terms of the actions to date of this government and this Prime Minister but also including the last 20 years, taking a look at Justin Trudeau or Stephen Harper. Actually, we could go even further back. We could talk about Jean Chrétien. We could even talk about Brian Mulroney. The worst government in the last 40 or 50 years, to deal with the issue of housing was actually the government in which the leader of the Conservative Party served. He sat around in cabinet when the Conservatives did absolutely nothing on the issue of housing. In fact, when the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister responsible for housing, get this, he built six houses, six.
I would actually contrast the type of housing that we have been able to put together, working with municipalities and working with provinces to ensure that we could increase the housing stock, not to mention the many non-profit housing organizations that are out there that we are trying to support.
We have support for housing co-ops and so much more. We recognize and, in particular, the Prime Minister recognizes, that the federal government does have a role to play in encouraging and being in the housing sector. Contrast that to when the leader of the Conservative Party sat in government and sat around the cabinet table. In fact, when he was the minister of housing, there was virtually nothing. When I say virtually nothing, I am being generous.
At the end of the day, the member makes reference to the condos in Toronto. I would suggest to the member to take a look at the condos in the city of Winnipeg. Depending on the region and depending on the marketplace, if there is a surplus of condo development, which has been acknowledged in Toronto, I suspect that has something to do with the stats. In some areas, it might be weaker. In other areas, it should be greater.
If we talk about Toronto's downtown versus what is happening in other communities around the city of Toronto or even in Toronto, we have seen some downward direction taking place in the prices of homes in Canada.
There is a genuine concern. We are concerned. It is not to downplay it. We will continue to be on top of this particular file of housing affordability.