Good afternoon.
First, I want to mention that our presentation today follows on the heels of the demonstration held in Ottawa today by 450 persons that ended in front of the Department of National Defence building, the entrance to which was briefly blocked by demonstrators. The purpose was to denounce the fact that, starting on April 1 next year, there will be $1 billion less for social housing, that is for the construction and renovation of existing social housing units.
This cut comes at the same time as the government is deciding possibly to allocate $16 billion in its budget to the purchase and repair of F-35 military aircraft and to increase next year's National Defence budget by approximately $22 billion dollars. We find it very hard to understand the decision to invest in military personnel rather than housing for people who have problems, who are poorly housed or homeless.
We also wanted to recall—we do it every time we come, and we don't think it is pointless to do so—that, in 1976, Canada subscribed to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which, among a number of rights, acknowledged, in particular, "the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions." In ratifying the pact, Canada also undertook to respect, protect, promote and implement all rights and—I think it is important to add this—to act "to the maximum of its available resources."
In the past four years, three different UN bodies have criticized the poor manner in which Canada has honoured the right to adequate housing. The first was the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Second, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing conducted an observation mission to Canada. And third, the Human Rights Council met for Canada's Universal Periodic Review.
Why is the government saying there will be $1 billion less for social housing? It's simply that Canada's Economic Action Plan, which had enabled Canada to do a little better in the housing field, is coming to an end and no further action is planned, at least on housing. That means that the provinces will receive $250 million less per year across Canada to build social housing and that there will be $500 million less for social housing renovation.
This week we met the Offices municipaux de l'habitation, which manage social housing, the existing low-rent housing in Quebec. The impact of these funding cuts is major. In Montreal, we're talking about $20 million less, which means that 75 buildings that could have undergone major renovations will not be renovated. That's the way it is virtually across Quebec. There will be $300 million less for aboriginal and northern communities, which have an urgent need for this type of housing.
We would like the government to continue this program. We don't think the economic crisis is over. In any case, we would have to be shown that it is. However, we know for sure that the effects of the economic crisis on low-income individuals have not disappeared. The proof of that, and we cite it in our brief, is the astounding increase in the number of complaints to the Régie du logement for non-payment of rent in the Quebec regions hardest hit by the crisis. We are thinking, for example, of Mauricie and the Eastern Townships, regions that were sorely tested during the crisis.
So we would like the housing renovation budget to be maintained and the social housing budget to be increased. The target we have set is $2 billion in investment per year for new housing. Knowing the expenditures incurred by National Defence, we are satisfied that there is a chance that this can be done.
Very briefly, I would like to mention a problem that we are increasingly encountering. And that is the end of the social housing agreements reached in the past. Very specifically, that is what we are currently seeing in relation, for example, to housing cooperatives. These are low-income renters who are losing the subsidies that enabled them to pay rents commensurate with their incomes. We believe those subsidies must absolutely be maintained.
Lastly, we note that funding under the Homelessness Partnering Strategy for agencies that work with homeless persons has not been indexed since the program was introduced. The first announcement made on the subject dates back to 1999. We believe that those amounts at least should be indexed.