Canada should be bracing itself for the reality that house prices are more likely to go down than up in the next few years, says former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge. He is not taking sides in the simmering debate about whether there is a housing bubble in this country, noting that policy-makers are still struggling with a long-standing dilemma: you don’t know a bubble until it bursts. What he is saying is that prices are certainly strong enough that it would be wise for Ottawa to take action.