Mr. Speaker, having served for a decade at the local government level in both the city of Vancouver and the metro Vancouver regional government, I am obviously very familiar with the challenges faced not only on the housing front, but also in the relationships with the provinces and territories and the federal government. Historically, it has been very difficult for cities to work with other levels of government. That is why we are in the predicament we are in with housing.
Cities have a critical role to play, but in years past, certainly in my years as mayor, there was not direct support. A program like the housing accelerator fund did not exist, nor were there transfers or investments that enabled the cities to take action and build, nor were there adequate programs through the provinces and territories. In this case, we are working with all of these partners, collaborating and investing at historic levels, and we want to make sure that collaboration creates affordable housing.