Finance committee  I don't think you should hang on that in all areas, because if you look at the activity in the markets in the west, for example, and I'm looking at Calgary and Vancouver--

Finance committee  I don't think the decrease would be such as to have impact in that particular area. With respect to our history, next year, in our view, will be the second-largest record on MLS, for example. This year, 2007, will be the top record up to now. Next year we're predicting will be th

Finance committee  If you look at the SIA/MLS system, you will see that the average house price in Canada has gone up by 85% in the period from 1992 to 2006. The consumer price index has gone up by 27% in the same period. If the maximum loan available from the plan were indexed to inflation, it wou

Finance committee  Yes, that is right.

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. We're clearly pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this study of the services sector. I understand that you'd like to hear about our industry, about the role we play in the economy and its problems, and what we'd like the federal gov

Industry committee  I'll address the first part, and I will ask Gregory Klump, our chief economist, to deal with the second part. What exists now in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Nova Scotia--or the Maritimes or Atlantic Canada, if you wish--is simply reflective of a supply and demand situation.

Industry committee  No. The proposal we made is for the deferral of capital gains.

Industry committee  What's happening now is that apartment owners who want to expand by selling existing buildings and buying larger property have to pay the tax on the capital gain, and that is what is slowing the economy at the moment.

Industry committee  We discovered from a recent report that 66% of those reporting property gains in the 2005 taxation year had net incomes of $55,000 or less. So those are individuals who made a choice to put their money into property and very possibly could not or did not in another market. So we

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Honourable members, I am Pierre Beauchamp, chief executive officer of the Canadian Real Estate Association. At my side is Allison McLure, legal counsel regarding the Competition Act. The Canadian Real Estate Association is one of Canada's largest single

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. We feel that this is going to have a very negative effect, because the new definitions, as I said earlier, of per se illegal agreements could be prosecuted criminally without the undueness element. This essentially means that small-business people wh

Finance committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. McKay. Basically, we are very concerned that small business in Canada is targeted by this particular proposed change. The undueness element exists at the moment. I think it is powerful, in that before things can happen here you have to be able to

Finance committee  Certainly in real estate if two real estate brokerages have controlling interest in a particular area, I think that would be fairly easy to demonstrate, as a matter of fact. Obviously it requires research.

Finance committee  That may be, but the contention we have for the government to establish that is that the tools are there today. As of now we are concerned, because we're talking about small-business people, and there have not have been any major attempts. We have worked very closely with the Com

Finance committee  Merci, monsieur le président. I'm Pierre Beauchamp, CEO of the Canadian Real Estate Association. I am accompanied by Dale Ripplinger, who is president of our association, and Gregory Klump, who is our chief economist at the association. Like others, I wish to thank you for the