Flaherty Removes The Housing Put? - "I, for one, am not particularly concerned about the softening we've seen in some markets in Canada in residential real estate."

Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Federal Finance Minister, as quoted in the Calgary Herald 17 Sep 2010 -

“I, for one, am not particularly concerned about the softening we’ve seen in some markets in Canada in residential real estate,” Flaherty told reporters, noting that Ottawa has twice tightened mortgage rules.
The most recent changes, which took effect in April, made it more difficult for some Canadians to qualify for a mortgage.
“This is entirely intentional, to tighten the market, so that we avoid the excesses that we’ve seen in other countries,” Flaherty said. “If we have to do more, we’ll do more.”

[Do comments like these make market participants less likely to expect bailouts and thus more likely to be cautious? Will this help to subdue sentiment in the housing market? We welcome this kind of government inattention. Let the market now proceed to find its own equilibrium, as justified by fundamentals. -vreaa]