Stricter Mortgage Lending Rules in Canada?

In the middle of December TD Bank CEO, Ed Clark, expressed his belief that mortgage rules for home
loans should be even more stringent than they already are (http://bit.ly/vbIcqD).  He would like to see federally insured mortgages go from a maximum of 30 years down to 25 years. 

What would that change mean for you, the consumer?  You would need to have very good credit and
would need to have 20% or more for a down-payment (on a purchase) or 20%+ home equity to
efinance if you wanted an amortization period of more than 25 years.  At present the maximum is 30
years amortization with less than 20% down.  Here is an example of what a change of this nature
would do on your monthly payments:


Loan Amt.           Interest Rate           Amort. Period         Term        Monthly Payment

$400,000                   3.29%                        30 yrs                 5 yrs          $1,744.71

$400,000                   3.29%                        25 yrs                 5 yrs          $1,953.00

With this scenario, you are paying approximately $208.29 more per month, $2,499.50 more per year
and a whopping $12,497.49 more for the term of your mortgage loan.

In January, 2011 the Canadian government, in an attempt to curb consumer debt/spending, decreased federally insured mortgages from a 35 year maximum to 30 years.  Do you feel even stricter home loan
rules would improve or hinder the overall state of the Canadian economy?