"Jim Flaherty, former finance minister, dead at 64"

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Flaherty created a housing bubble potentially worse than the US

He allowed 40 year amortization and 0% down loans, which allowed kids working at McDonalds to buy condos, which are now falling in value. Even when he saw the error of his (or his master Harper's) ways, he only gradually tightened the lending requirements. Unlike the US, Canada has the CHMC, which guarantees the mortgages of low down payment borrowers. Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for billions of dollars in high risk mortgages.

Canadian baby boomers, on average, have little saved for retirement, and are depending on the inflated equity in their homes to fund their golden years. This will not end well. The housing market in Canada currently appears to be where the US market was in 2006- prices peaking, listings swelling, sales volume down...tick...tick...tick