From 1999 to 2014, federal funds were invested in a number of initiatives, as we describe in the brief we have submitted. They might take the form of a contribution to the facilities of organizations such as the Maison du Père, Cactus Montréal or L'Itinéraire, or a contribution to social housing projects. They can also involve supporting people in the street. They may also involve helping people who need food or people who need mental health care. It is about preventing people from going back into the street, or providing them with ongoing support or reintegrating them.
The shift to the Housing First approach, which focused 65% of the assistance in large cities to people who had been in the street for a long time, greatly reduced the assistance available for the other initiatives, including assistance for the facilities. Of course it is a good idea to help people in the street, but if others in the area take their place, you are not getting very far.
The government has taken a step in the right direction when Minister Morneau provided a 50% increase to the HPS over two years. That will make possible a variety of initiatives. As my colleague said, it will allow Montreal to determine its most pressing needs, either to work within the shelters or to help to develop projects for women, for whom we do not have enough room. It will allow the various communities, by virtue of an agreement with Quebec, to act with a Canadian vision. That has worked before and it can work again. That is what we are asking for in the future.