Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I refer to divesting public housing, I am essentially asking the Minister if he has developed a strategy to either sell the public housing at a market rate in the communities where there is a market or a quasi-market or give the houses away to the public housing tenants themselves in communities where there is no market.

Right now, as it stands, the public housing units are for sale, but it is not feasible in the small communities for individuals to go to the bank to buy public housing units. They are appraised higher than they are worth. We have units that are written off and sold on a private bid for $4,000 or $5,000, but the exact same unit standing next door could be worth $75,000. My question is: would the Housing Corporation develop a plan to divest themselves of public housing? That would cut the cost down, and it would also start to create a bit of a market.

The Housing Corporation has gotten into the market just a bit. They have introduced some market housing in all of the communities, essentially to house, let's say, nurses and teachers. Now, there is a beginning of a market, but they haven't rounded it off by trying to sell or divest themselves of public housing units. Sell where you can and sign the rest over for nothing to people who have been in public housing for years and years, or even new tenants; it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that it is going to save a lot of money for the government if they were no longer running public housing units that they don't have to be running. Plus, it will create a bit of a market, and a bit of a market is important. Once we create a bit of a market, whether we refer to it as a quasi-market, or not, what will happen is individuals will then be able to sell and buy houses and be more mobile from community to community. So that was my question, if the Minister is planning to divest themselves, the Housing Corporation, of public housing units. Thank you.