Human Resources Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2009

Evidence of meeting #65 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was poverty.

On the agenda

Federal Contribution to Reducing Poverty in Canada

MPs speaking

Dean Allison
Michael Savage
Yves Lessard
Tony Martin
Dona Cadman

Also speaking

John Kolkman  Research and Policy Analysis Coordinator, Edmonton Social Planning Council
Bill Moore-Kilgannon  Executive Director, Public Interest Alberta
Bev Matthiessen  Executive Director, Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities
Dave Ward  Director, Aboriginal Relations, Homeward Trust Edmonton
Wendy Myshak  Manager, Community Initiatives, Homeward Trust Edmonton

11:40 a.m.

Manager, Community Initiatives, Homeward Trust Edmonton

Wendy Myshak

I do. I just want to quickly say that Mr. Martin made a good point, speaking about your visit to the shelter, in saying that they are valuable citizens and it is a waste of humanity to have these individuals living on the street. One thing we try to do is not address the people as homeless people, because that brings to mind a characteristic, like saying tall people or blond people or people from Nova Scotia. We like to say “people experiencing homelessness” and emphasize that it is a very transient situation that they find themselves in, and it's not a characteristic of who they are. They aren't homeless. We really try not to use the phrase “homeless people”, but “individuals experiencing homelessness”, in the hope that it is something very short term that they will eventually move out of.

11:40 a.m.

Director, Aboriginal Relations, Homeward Trust Edmonton

Dave Ward

I have a final comment. Obviously, a big thanks goes to the committee for all the efforts it is putting toward this issue and the awareness of it.

I also wanted to comment on Mr. Lessard's nice comments. We do have a lot of hope here in Edmonton. We are living in a city in the only province in Canada that has an effort to put a plan together to end homelessness in 10 years. The good work of Minister Fritz is huge, and obviously for Premier Stelmach this is an important issue.

Despite some of the economic challenges we may face, and whether or not the resources will necessarily be there at the end of the day to have the total impact we would like to have, we certainly recognize that there has been a fundamental shift in how homelessness is addressed in this province.

It is going to take a while to transition agencies to understand exactly what “housing first” actually means. It is going to take a while to ensure that the private sector comes on board with some unique projects in the future, but the team we have been able to formulate through the efforts of the commission and the political leadership and private sector leadership gives me confidence. That's why I have hope. I look forward to being able to report back to you with our executive director in the future about the kind of progress we are making.

Thank you.

11:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Dean Allison

Thank you very much.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.