Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the clarity.
I'll start with Madame Chabot's concerns and questions.
I think what we've heard in this testimony is that there's been a shift from home ownership in this country to rental housing, which we know has happened over the decades and especially as housing prices have increased. We know that rental housing is an important factor.
We heard testimony today that there is an opportunity for the government to intervene in rental housing and make that happen, so I think it's important and it's relevant to the study that we dig into rental housing.
I did want to address the letter from Starlight. I'm actually on a site right now, renx.ca, where some of their properties are for sale. Here it says, “Properties in the portfolio [of Starlight] have in-place financing at fixed below-market interest rates, of which a significant portion is Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-insured. The $425 million in CMHC debt, with a weighted average 2.52 per cent interest rate and remaining term of 4.2 years, is assumable subject to lender consent.”
I think we need to get some clarity on what's published. Starlight itself has highlighted, even in some of its own press releases, that it has subsidies backed with public money.
Their evictions have been widely reported by CBC, CTV, The Hill Times, CityNews, Maclean's and more. If I had the time to pull it up, Mr. Chair, I could share with you a story from CBC recently about some of its tenants being on a strike and how Starlight has potentially served notice to some of its tenants.
I think all of these issues can be clarified when the organization and Mr. Drimmer come to committee.
Thank you.