Ms. Nash was talking about generational poverty. First nations have had it ever since the introduction of the Indian Act. The federal government owns all Indian reserves, so we don't have the same rights as anyone else in the country. It's only mentally handicapped individuals, minor children, and first nations living on a reserve who can't own property.
What we're proposing with a number of proponents is that the federal government transfer its ownership of reserve lands to first nations in perpetuity, so that individuals can have indivisible title and begin to build their own homes, build up equity, start businesses, and have the same kind of footing as other individuals here in this country enjoy. That means the creation of first nations institutions, whether they be for land title registries or other institutions to facilitate tax jurisdiction and new fiscal arrangements with Canada, including the provinces.
That is one of the areas that the federal government has to look at to empower individuals and first nations governments, because without the creation of that institution we will see many other generations into the future being dependent on the federal government. As an example, with housing, the Assembly of First Nations says we need 80,000 homes to be built right now. The federal government says about 30,000 homes. So under the current system it's going to take either 250 years or 800 years to catch up to the existing backlog. Without the creation of individual property rights, that will never happen.
Also, as I mentioned in my brief, when you see resource extraction happening within our traditional territories, many first nations individuals can't access the benefits of those developments because we have no access to capital. We have no method to be bonded, no means to start our own businesses.