Senator Martin: Senator, the numbers speak volumes. This summer, RBC said that 43% of its residential mortgages were longer than 25 years, which is a jump of 40% in just one year. Early last year, RBC reported having no mortgages longer than 35 years; now they represent 23% of RBC’s mortgages.

Leader, why do you think it takes 25 years to save up for a down payment now when it used to take that long to pay off a mortgage? Isn’t it because the Prime Minister is not just worth the cost of — after eight long years —

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, I raised with you in June the IMF warning that Canada has the highest risk of mortgage defaults among advanced economies. Statistics Canada reported today that mortgage interest costs in September went up a staggering 30.6% year over year. This was the main contributor to inflation last month. It’s no wonder that Canadians are increasingly worried about keeping up with their mortgage payments and keeping their homes.

Will the Trudeau government stop the inflationary deficits that are fuelling high interest rates to keep Canada from a mortgage default crisis?