SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 162

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23
Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/23 3:11:16 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I really agree with the hon. member on the importance of this $742-million fund to develop a comprehensive violence prevention strategy. This includes $420 million over five years to support the construction of a minimum 38 shelters and 50 transitional homes. We understand the urgency of this matter. CMHC has already selected 22 projects to move forward, and we expect concrete announcements in the next few weeks.
70 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23
Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)
  • Feb/16/23 6:01:17 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to addressing the homelessness and housing crisis, the Liberals would be hard pressed to do any worse. The Auditor General's report on chronic homelessness found that the federal government does not even know whether the national housing strategy is working to prevent and reduce chronic homelessness, yet they have spent billions to develop unaffordable housing. On November 15, 2022, I asked the minister when the government will do its job so that everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home. The minister responded that he accepts the Auditor General's report and that the government would implement all of the recommendations, yet in December, the CEO of CMHC, Romy Bowers, confirmed the government will not meet its targets on reducing chronic homelessness. Her response was, “It is a very challenging target to meet.” The Liberals' failure to lead is only worsening the crisis. Skyrocketing rents are forcing families to choose between food and rent. Shelters are over capacity and tent cities are expanding. In Toronto, during a recent extreme cold weather alert, 99% of warming centre spaces were occupied. Unhoused people are dying across the country. Organizations such as the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness are sounding the alarm, calling for greater action to address surging homelessness. Rather than stepping up in support, the government's response is to exclude people who have rent paid directly to their landlord by social assistance programs from receiving the $500 rental housing benefit, which the NDP forced them to deliver. These are some of the people with the lowest incomes, including seniors, people with disabilities and individuals on income assistance, and the government is punishing them. It is absolutely appalling. Meanwhile, the CMHC cannot even deliver on funds that have already been committed. Not a single cent of the $420 million for transitional homes and shelters for indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people has been released. It has been two years since the announcement, and there has been zero progress on building these projects. On the federal lands initiative, the government has disbursed only about 11% of the money allocated last year to support urban, rural and northern indigenous housing. The government's website says there is no property available. With the coinvestment fund, 115,000 units have received funding commitments, but the funding has not flowed. Projects are sitting there waiting as project costs rise due to inflation. Now the government has introduced a new funding limit of $25,000 per unit for the fund, which means many projects will no longer be viable. I have heard people say that CMHC is where projects go to die. Sadly, this seems to be the case. What will it take to get projects delivered? The minister called the coinvestment fund the flagship program for deeply affordable housing, yet in a written response to my question at HUMA, CMHC described the coinvestment fund as a supply initiative with an affordability definition linked to the cost of a unit versus market prices. It is not surprising then that the Auditor General found low-income people cannot afford much of the housing being built through this program. The government cannot even get its story straight. Some community organizations have projects ready but have been told by CMHC that the coinvestment fund has been depleted. When my colleagues wrote to the minister about an affordable housing project for seniors, the minister encouraged them to look to the coinvestment fund for support. On the same date, the minister replied to a letter that I wrote indicating that “the remaining NHCF contribution budget is limited.” The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. When will the government get its story straight and fix the housing crisis?
633 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border