Human Resources Committee on Dec. 8th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Yes. It starts with what we adopted as NDP-5, which is, “The national housing strategy shall include incentives for affordable rental housing and shall ensure the availability of housing that”, etc., etc.

Go ahead, Ed.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Now, on the word “ensure”, does anyone have any problems with that? In terms of the clerk, it would seem to me that the strategy would have to ensure a number of things that would end up being a cost factor. That's not an issue, I gather.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

No, they don't have an issue with it.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

And subclause 3.(2) reads, as I take is, as amended, “The national housing strategy shall provide financial assistance”, and that's not a problem either, simply because the strategy could provide it, but you wouldn't have to act on it. Is that what you're saying?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Yes, because it's just a strategy that we're talking about.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Interesting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay. Any other questions?

I will go, then, to amendment L-14, and that is on page 11.1.

Mr. Kennedy, the floor is yours.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

People can see that what this does essentially is ensure there is an outcome. In other words, it's not just that they will “encourage and promote”, but that they will develop a coordinated approach to the implementation. So that's the difference. It replaces line 22, which says “shall encourage and promote”, and proposes instead to say “shall develop”. So it takes the high degree of ambiguity out of that.

In French, it says "élabore une approche coordonnée de mise en oeuvre de la stratégie", which is more precise.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Is there any other discussion on amendment L-14?

(Amendment agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

The next one is amendment BQ-4, which is not applicable.

And amendment NDP-8 has already carried because of the vote on amendment NDP-3.

Now I'm going to ask the question on clause 4, as amended.

(Clause 4 as amended agreed to)

(On clause 5—Conference to be held)

Amendment NDP-9 has already been dealt with because of the vote on amendment NDP-3.

Amendment BQ-5 is withdrawn.

That takes us to amendment L-14.1, which is on page 15.1. I'll turn that over to Mr. Kennedy.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Again, it's a variant on the previous issue, which is basically including that not-for-profit and private housing providers are among those included as part of the discussion, as well as those who represent groups in need of adequate housing, because those are not necessarily the same—the people who provide housing and those who need it. In many of our communities they are organized, they do have a voice, and they need to be at the table.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay. I also want to let the committee know that if we adopt amendment L-14.1, then we will not be dealing with amendment NDP-9.1, just so people are aware of that.

Are there any questions on amendment L-14.1?

(Amendment agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

That means we will not be dealing with amendment NDP-9.1.

That takes us to amendment L-15.2, which is on page 15.3.

Mr. Kennedy, the floor is yours.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, this is a little bit more precision. You'll see that the language at the outset is the same but refers back to the previous subclause 3(1) and includes “targets to end homelessness—with clear timelines and accountability measures, and develop programs to carry out the strategy”.

It brings it to what I think is its logical development in terms of what we mean.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Is there any discussion on that?

(Amendment agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

We will not be dealing with amendment NDP-10 because that was what was applied from amendment NDP-3.

We'll not be dealing with amendment BQ-6. That will be withdrawn.

That will take us to amendment NDP-11.

Go ahead.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

For consistency we may want to first consider amendment LIB-15.2.1, which is on page 17.011.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you.

All right, we'll go to amendment LIB-15.2.1.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Is that the page?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

It's on page 17.011, not 17.01 but 17.011. It was an extra page that was handed out.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Is this Mr. Kennedy's, too?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Yes.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

I have here page 17.1.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

It's page 17.011.

Mr. Kennedy, would you like to speak to that?

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Yes. For the third occasion and for greater clarity, it basically inserts the not-for-profit and private sector housing providers on the listing of those that should be included and those that represent groups in need of adequate housing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay. As a clarification and so everyone is aware then, if we accept this we will not be dealing with amendment NDP-11.

Is there any discussion?

(Amendment agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

It is carried, which means we will not be dealing with amendment NDP-11.

That takes us to amendment LIB-15.3, which is on page 17.02.

Mr. Kennedy, the floor is yours.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

One moment, Mr. Chair; I want to make sure I have the right reference.

Mr. Chair, this basically adds “monitoring and evaluation” of the programs, not just the ”development and delivery”. Again, it makes it more precise in terms of what we want this strategy to accomplish.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay. Is there any discussion?

Mr. Lobb.