Finance committee  I've seen the testimony.

Finance committee  I can't distinguish between an opinion and facts, so I haven't seen the data.

Finance committee  With respect, I disagree. Our housing market assessment is based on models that are based on historical data, and our stress test is based on projections of our own insurance outlook. Those are data. Those are not opinions.

Finance committee  I'm sorry for your disappointment. It's my job to be impartial. I don't represent a particular sector. I represent the Government of Canada and CMHC. Those people have people they represent, and I would suggest that you may want to take that into account.

Finance committee  Their businesses have dried up because the government was involved in a market in providing stimulus, and the Minister of Finance decided to remove some of that stimulus. It's like you're at a party, and the party has got too strong and you remove the punch bowl.

Finance committee  Yes, the Canadian state, the Canadian government, provides very substantial support in the housing market. I suspect it's close to, if not at the world peak in several programs. First of all, mortgage loan insurance is about $1 trillion of government guarantees. The homebuyers' plan is a federal program that allows first-time homebuyers to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs.

Finance committee  Yes, overheating. That includes several models that sit under it, and I suppose, if I may say so, it stands for the proposition that no one single measure is reliable. We have to look at a compendium of measures in order to understand the collection of what's going on in various marketplaces in Canada, and we do attend to those.

Finance committee  They are price acceleration, overheating, overvaluation, and overbuilding.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I suppose, as I said to your honourable colleague, that I'll never be satisfied; that's my job. I think you rely on us at CMHC to make sure—in fact, this is in our legislative mandate—that we promote financial stability and access to housing. It's a balancing act. I don't know whether that will arrive, but what I do know is that with the economic growth we have in this country, increasing immigration, and the possibility of increased foreign investment flows and low interest rates, there is a lot promoting the housing market.

Finance committee  First of all, I apologize if I come across as arrogant. That's not at all my intention. We have people working in all provinces of this country, including Alberta, and we listen to our colleagues in all of the entities and to all of the stakeholders who testified to you. Some of them are our clients, in fact.

Finance committee  Yes, the measures have produced good results. There will be a difference in different provinces to the extent of higher indebtedness. For example, Alberta has comparatively higher levels of debt than other provinces. I think Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto have higher levels of debt than other cities.

Finance committee  Not exactly, no. I know we're not solving for an outcome. We're just making sure that we are, on behalf of the government, controlling the growth in personal indebtedness. The trajectory it's on is a function of so many factors—low interest rates, income growth, job creation, immigration—not all of which, of course, is within anyone's control, so we think it's our responsibility to not pour fuel on that fire.

Finance committee  It's in the neighbourhood of two-thirds or so.

Finance committee  Let me reinforce two things, if I may, in response to the question. First of all, the decisions were taken by the Minister of Finance on our advice, so I don't deserve credit for those changes but of course we advised in support of them. The “too much of a good thing” reference was my interpretation.