44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 11, 2023 11:00AM
- Dec/11/23 8:40:26 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thought my colleague's speech was very interesting, especially as it related to the challenges around housing for Indigenous communities.
The community of Kahnawake, which is in my riding, is an urban community. However, it faces its own challenges.
A project was recently approved by Indigenous Services Canada. It is a halfway house for Mohawk youth, with services delivered by Mohawk professionals, in the community of Châteauguay.
Does my colleague think that this is a good approach?
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- Dec/11/23 8:41:22 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am very pleased that my colleague was able to tell us about this concrete example from her community.
In my speech earlier, I talked about the responsibilities of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. We must all work together to ensure that more housing is built for indigenous communities across the country.
Just as my colleague mentioned an example in her community, I also mentioned examples involving Manitoba and Saskatoon. The important thing is to ensure that these kinds of projects are done by and for indigenous communities across the country, and to ensure that culturally appropriate services are in place and ready to meet the needs and challenges faced by the various communities across the country.
That is our responsibility. We are in the process of doing just that. We are prepared to continue to make amendments to this type of legislation to ensure that the needs of indigenous peoples across the country are met.
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- Dec/11/23 8:42:42 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I heard my colleague talk about the housing challenges facing indigenous peoples.
I spoke about the overrepresentation of indigenous women and girls among the victims of domestic violence, but can it be normal, in 2023, that there should also be such a significant overrepresentation of indigenous persons when it comes to homelessness?
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- Dec/11/23 8:43:13 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I really appreciate that question. We have been talking about homelessness since I entered politics in 2018. It is important that we can continue to build housing across the country to try to reduce homelessness.
I think that my colleague who also voted during the 30‑hour marathon at the end of last week, may know that, on this side of the House, we are prepared to continue supporting projects in collaboration and partnership with communities in need to try to combat homelessness in the country.
I appreciate the work that my colleague does on this, and I hope to be able to continue working with her to eradicate homelessness in Canada.
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- Dec/11/23 8:52:00 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank the hon. colleague for his impressive speech on this.
One of the issues that the Liberals brought up in a previous speech is around housing and that housing is a shared responsibility. I was wondering if the member has any more comments around that.
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- Dec/11/23 8:52:22 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I appreciate the work of the member for Peace River—Westlock. He is a member of the indigenous and northern affairs committee, and I enjoy working with him and his additions to the debate that he is bringing to us today.
Housing is something that we have heard is an ongoing issue with indigenous communities, first nations, in particular, and Inuit as well. We know that housing is often cramped and in need of repair, and that a lot of that was exacerbated during the pandemic where people were forced to live in conditions that were greatly unacceptable. ISC, unfortunately, has yet to improve on those actual outcomes. So, most of the discussion that we are bringing on this side is about actually getting results.
The bar is not how much money we spend; yes, it is an important piece, but if we are spending a lot of money and getting no results, something is wrong. So, we need to actually have that conversation about how we get better outcomes in this picture.
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- Dec/11/23 10:09:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, based on what my colleague said, it sounds like he has a commitment to understanding the importance of supporting indigenous communities across Canada.
I want to ask the member opposite this. His leader, when he was in charge of housing, had a $300-million first nations housing program that managed to build only 99 houses. Is there more of a commitment to build more housing for indigenous communities? How important is it? I do know that the member opposite comes from an area where there are a lot of indigenous communities and that he has a direct connection and relationship with them.
I would like to hear from the member opposite about his commitment to build more housing for indigenous communities, while making sure that it is also a partnership with all levels of government and communities as well.
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- Dec/11/23 10:10:41 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is very important. Housing is an issue right across the country. Particularly in our area of northwestern Ontario, there is a housing crisis on first nations. Many communities desperately need to see new housing units developed and, hopefully, more ownership over their housing so that it can be properly maintained.
The member talked about the Leader of the Opposition's time as housing minister and I would remind her that under the previous Conservative government, housing costs were half of what they are now. Unfortunately, the government has created and fuelled a housing crisis. That is something that Conservatives are definitely going to work on when we are in government.
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- Dec/11/23 11:02:38 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we know that when the Conservatives talked about indigenous peoples, indigenous women and girls, and the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls issue, they actually said that it was an “Indian issue”, not a Canadian issue. That is shameful. They continue to perpetuate those kinds of beliefs, talking about my riding as “hell on Earth”. In fact, what we need is for the government to step up to save lives.
I also want to talk about housing for just a moment. Had it not been for the NDP, budget 2022 would not have had $4.3 billion directed for indigenous housing: $4 billion on distinction-based housing and $300 million for urban, rural and northern housing. Then in budget 2023, we fought again and got another $4 billion, this time for for indigenous, by indigenous, urban, rural and northern indigenous housing. We knew that was not enough, and the government slow-walked the delivery of this. That, too, is unacceptable.
Before we call everybody down about this, I ask the government members to look themselves in the mirror and say, “No more incremental justice. Let us do it, and do it now.”
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- Dec/11/23 11:04:47 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member for Nunavut raises the exact point. When the government does not take the necessary action to ensure services and supports are in place, to ensure that housing is actually built for urgent, unmet needs, and not just that but to ensure the basic human rights of indigenous peoples are respected, people die.
TB is spread because of overcrowded housing; that is one of the chief reasons. When my colleague the member for Nunavut and I fought so hard for the government to deliver on that housing, we literally had to cry tears of pain to call on the government to take action. It is not because of me or her, but rather the people in the community whose lives depend on it. It means that much.
In 2022, $4 billion and another $4 billion for 2023 is insufficient. Just to put things in context, to address the housing gap that exists for indigenous peoples would cost $135.1 billion. At the rate we are going, it is going to take some 34 years for us to get there. How many people have to die before that basic human right, whether in a home community or away from a home community, is recognized and respected?
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