I move that Bill C-10 in clause 315 be amended by replacing line 28 on page 290 with the following:
except those requiring contributions from other levels of government, a sum not exceeding one hundred million
I have to explain this one because it's very critical. My colleagues need to understand just how serious this issue is and why we're making the amendment. This is not frivolous or vexatious. We are simply trying to get the money flowing as quickly as possible. However small or paltry it may seem in terms of overall housing needs in the north, the little bit of money that is here for the north has to flow quickly. I would hope that you will all talk to some of your colleagues from the north to know how important that is.
I had the privilege this past summer--and I can't speak from experience on the Yukon or the Northwest Territories--of travelling throughout Nunavut: Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, Pangnirtung, and Resolute. If there is one observation my colleagues and I made from that absolutely incredible voyage, it was of the need for an immediate injection of funds in housing. I wish I could give you a slide show of the housing conditions and just show you how difficult the circumstances are for folks.
You've probably heard, and I am sure my colleagues on the Conservative side have heard, from the Minister of Health, the member for Nunavut. They appreciate the money. I know there was a big fanfare and a big announcement made this past week. The money that is part of this budget has already been announced, obviously. Fine, go ahead and announce it, but after all the hoopla and after all the press coverage, maybe it would be a good idea just to flow some of that money without obstacles, without matching funds, without requirements that the hard-strapped governments of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut have to match the funds.
I just received a letter from the folks we had met with in Iqaluit about housing, saying, if you can do anything, get this money going. Our territorial government does not have the wherewithal. It's stretched. They put that money into housing. You can't expect them to simply take the money that's available and require it be spent on a project already committed as opposed to something new that the province or territory wants to see happen.
How in the world, when it comes to the north, can we be this blind to the need and this caught up in red tape and bureaucracy? I do not know how to impress upon my colleagues the need in the north. I assume you've all seen it, heard from colleagues, or understand it. Then surely you understand that in the north, where the climate is difficult, where housing is so critical, when the temperatures can drop so low, when the climate is so volatile, we must at least provide an immediate flow of money for housing.
I don't know how else to make this point. I don't know how the Liberals can sit here and not support this. I don't understand how this isn't driving people to action. We are only looking at the Yukon and Northwest Territories receiving $50 million each, and $100 million for Nunavut, for housing that is in a crisis, for a housing situation that is reaching crisis proportions and where there is no greater apparent need for social housing.
For goodness' sake, if you talk about the distinctive needs of the territories, as this document does, then treat it with distinction, treat it as distinctive, flow the money, flow it quickly. Don't put in place roadblocks, don't put in place these requirements. Do what's right. I implore my Liberal colleagues to do that. I hope the Bloc will support it this time. And maybe my Conservative friends, who probably have talked to their colleague the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq and realize the significance of this, will support this motion, because it's that important.
Thank you.