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House Hansard - 143

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 143 - Dec/7/22
Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Dec/7/22 5:07:50 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-32 
Mr. Speaker, I often talk about the housing crisis and about how serious the problem is. There are currently several ongoing crises in Canada: the climate crisis, the language crisis in Quebec, which is very serious, and the housing crisis, which is also very serious. I am getting to the point where I am tired of repeating the same things and not getting an answer from the government. I decided that, since Christmas is coming, instead of talking about statistics and citing figures—perhaps this will come up during questions and comments—I would tell a few stories. They are not necessarily fun stories, but they are stories. We could call one “December 23, Merry Christmas, Mr. Côté”, or “The dirty little story about the never-ending housing crisis”. I will warn my colleagues right now: These may be stories, but every story I tell is true. Let me tell the House about someone we will call Mr. M. Mr. M. has been on the street for almost three years now. He had drug problems 45 years ago that made him homeless. He has been clean for the past year. Things are going well for him in that regard. He is working hard to reintegrate into society. He has serious health problems that prevent him from working, so he gets money from Quebec's social solidarity program. He has enough money to pay for housing, so he is already one step ahead on that. However, even though he is on a priority waiting list for low-cost housing, he cannot find housing because he is stigmatized. Basically, he is being discriminated against because he is homeless. He has done everything he possibly can. Unfortunately, the outreach people who work with him cannot produce housing out of thin air. Even the government, sitting there across the aisle, cannot provide housing. Imagine how the people who work with him feel. This means Mr. M. is going to spend Christmas on the street. I wish Mr. M. a merry Christmas on his park bench. Now I want to talk about Ms. L. Ms. L. is 60 years old and is currently living in her car. She has to ask community organizations for gas cards to be able to stay warm at night. She showers in an emergency shelter and spends her days in a street café that gives out food and hot coffee. Mr. Speaker, I forgot to mention that I would like to share my time with the hon. member for Terrebonne.
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