I do believe, as I said, that housing is a really critical issue in poverty, and particularly for women. I think the federal government needs to have a national housing strategy that has a gender analysis built into it, and one that increases the funding for specific groups of women and types of housing. For example, second-stage housing for women fleeing violence is truly critical in making the difference as to whether or not women return to violent situations. Yet across the country, there is very little support for it and the number of second-stage shelters has really declined. That type of housing is really critical. It's longer-term support; women can stay for up to a year in that kind of housing with their children, as opposed to three to six weeks in an emergency shelter. You can't change your whole life in three to six weeks.
The federal government also needs to invest money in the construction of affordable long-term housing, with a focus on aboriginal women on- and off-reserve, in the north, and women who are fleeing violence, and for women with disabilities in particular.
So more money is needed for the construction and rehabilitation of social housing, and then support for particular kinds of housing, such as second-stage housing.