Finance committee  Good morning. I would like to preface my remarks by saying we recognize the need for fiscal prudence in the coming budget. We would also, along with others, though, caution the Minister of Finance to show some flexibility and keep a fiscal open mind, given the international econ

Finance committee  Where does one begin? First of all, it's worth noting that you can't discuss a productive economy without also considering how the people who work in that economy are housed and, importantly, where they're housed with respect to access to their jobs. This is why we talked about

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Good afternoon, everybody, first of all, and thank you for inviting us here. I am the executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, and I also serve as the vice-president of the housing group of the International Co-operative Alliance. I'd like to talk,

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes, they are coming to an end. Most of these programs were commitments of 35 to 50 years. The 50-year commitments are the older ones. The concern we have is that there was no plan in sight, no clear thinking at the public policy level on what's to be done, if anything, to conti

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  There's not a single answer to that, although a single answer is continuously provided by CMHC. CMHC basically says.... It makes the blanket statement that it thinks cooperatives will be okay. What it's not taking into consideration is the fact that although co-ops will no longer

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes, I can. You're right. We are looking already at the idea of refinancing before the actual government programs and mortgages come to an end, but we are facing a hurdle. Most of the co-ops we're looking at are actually financed through the direct lending program of the Governme

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  That's a multi-part question. I'll do my best within my time. First, the subsidies that were provided did not cover the full mortgage payment. In the first program, the section 61 program, the only break the co-ops got was an 8% mortgage, which in those days was a break, of cour

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  In the case of co-ops developed under the urban native programs, they absolutely will not work without government help.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I was hoping to look before I came in, but I didn't. It came out on January 9, 2012. It details tax expenditures for the prior year. I don't have it.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I don't know the exact figure, so I wouldn't want to be quoted on the record here.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  We can find out.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  That's correct.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  No, there isn't. There is no generic document. There have been many proposals going out, most notably in Alberta, and there are some equity co-ops there, but those are proposals around specific projects. What we want to do is develop something that builds on the one-pager that I

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Well, I suppose I could have an opinion about the impact of that on the Canadian economy, but the actual impact on our sector would be pretty much nil. As far as the effect on the Canadian economy is concerned, I return to the remark I made toward the end of my presentation, th

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  They're still there, as far as I know. That merely lists where we have offices. We have members across the country, including in all the prairie provinces, but we don't have offices.... We have an office in Manitoba. Alberta has its own regional federation. In fact, it has two s