Mr. Speaker, I thank my mentor, the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, for that excellent question.
This is a very striking reality that I am hearing about at every door I knock on. Young families are telling me how difficult it is to get into the housing market and how saving up for a down payment, which has doubled in recent years, is a major obstacle to buying their first home. They talk to me about access to housing. They also talk to me about how house prices are skyrocketing, particularly in Baie‑Saint‑Paul and La Malbaie.
This is because people are starting to go to those places to buy second homes, which tend to be fairly luxurious cottages. This is driving up property prices in the region. Ultimately, locals are unable to buy property in their region or to settle there because houses are too expensive. It has even become a problem for companies trying to attract talent, because the new hires end up struggling to find affordable housing.