Thank you.
I can try to start answering that question, if I understood it correctly.
The question has certainly been documented more than once over the last 15, 20, 25 or 30 years. It was also likely analyzed a number of times by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
The problem lies mainly in the fact that the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development really has the final say over everything to do with every area of activity in our communities. That is what has to change. Unfortunately, that is what is lacking in the relationship between the federal government and our communities. The relationship is one-sided: the only side that counts is the side that provides the resources. Almost all the receiving is done by our communities. Even those resources are inadequate.
First of all, it has to be clearly determined whether the resources are meeting the need. As an example, I am going to use the comparatively recent announcement, from a little earlier this year, of several million dollars for housing. It means about $45 million over the next two years for our region of Quebec.
Once again, the criteria for assigning those amounts are determined by the federal government. But, together with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, we are involved in a process that is supposed to give us a voice. But it does not translate into concrete measures that correspond to the reality of our communities as we live it. That is what makes me say that the measures being announced are still somewhat inadequate.
The last thing that I would like to say about this is that intentions are good, but unfortunately, they do not correspond to the realities of the housing. We have said it and we have documented it: in Québec alone, to meet our housing needs, 8,000 new houses would have to be built tomorrow morning. That shows that the budgeted $45 million are a long way from the $400 million we need.