Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon to my colleagues.
Thank you so much for coming in.
I have a few comments before I ask a question.
I was encouraged to hear you say that it will take three levels of government to fix the housing crisis we are in. I took note of the members opposite talking about how housing builds in Toronto and other provinces are down. Let's not forget that Doug Ford is the Conservative Premier of Ontario. We have Conservative premiers across the country—including one who just lost his election in New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs—who have fought every initiative we took forward. Although every federal program can be improved—whether it's the co-investment fund, the rapid housing initiative or the housing accelerator fund—I think they are transformational. I think they're helping. I note that the Conservative Party voted against each and every one of these programs. I believe that, as a federal government, we are standing up, leading and doing a lot of things that are necessary to help build houses right across this country.
Going back to my wonderful riding of Saint John—Rothesay, I was very happy to announce $9 million for the City of Saint John recently, through the housing accelerator fund. The city set a target of 1,100 net new residential units over the next three years. According to the progress report—and the mayor and council I talked to—they're at 37% of that total. A big part of their strategy is zoning bylaw reform to facilitate housing.
From your vantage point overseeing many agreements formed with different municipalities across Canada, can you speak about some of the reforms that cities like mine have already implemented as a result of the housing accelerator fund?