Human Resources Committee on Feb. 7th, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, June 13, 2016, the committee is resuming its study on poverty reduction strategies.

Today we're heading into the component “Neighbourhoods: A study of planning, infrastructure building as a poverty reduction strategy, accessible and affordable transit, community support networks, and other new or innovative approaches”.

Today we are pleased to welcome Jeff Moore, assistant deputy minister, policy and communications, Infrastructure Canada; and from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Stephen Van Dine, assistant deputy minister, northern affairs.

We are hoping to speak with you for about an hour or an hour and a half, or by whichever time we're done with questions. At that time we'll break for a few moments to go in camera for some committee business.

Without further ado, I hand it over to Jeff Moore for 10 minutes.

[Jeff Moore, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Communications, Office of Infrastructure of Canada]

Good morning, Mr. Chair, and thank you for inviting me to speak before you today.

I am pleased to note that the committee is conducting a study of “planning, infrastructure building as a poverty reduction strategy, accessible and affordable transit, community support networks, and other new and innovative approaches”.

I believe the Department of Infrastructure Canada has a role to play in addressing some of the challenges your committee will study.

I'd like to begin by outlining the Government of Canada's plans and how the department will be involved in supporting them.

I will then speak to how I believe Infrastructure Canada will help in the committee's study.

As you may know, the Government of Canada set out an ambitious infrastructure investment plan in budget 2016. The budget announced $11.9 billion over five years in funding for the first phase of the government's investments, which included funding under three streams: $3.4 billion over three years for public transit; $5 billion over five years for green infrastructure; and $3.4 billion over five years for social infrastructure.

As part of the government's phase one commitments, budget 2016 proposed initial social investments totalling $3.4 billion over five years. These investments are targeted to help expand affordable housing, support early learning and child care, renew cultural and recreational infrastructure, and improve community health care facilities on reserve.

The department has been working in partnership with our colleagues at Families, Children, and Social Development as well as Indigenous and Northern Affairs to make investments in affordable housing and indigenous communities.

Under phase one Infrastructure Canada is responsible for the public transit infrastructure fund, PTIF, and the clean water and wastewater fund, CWWF. Investments under PTIF are being used to help strengthen communities, in part by aiding the purchase of accessible buses.

Prince Edward Island, for example, used some of its PTIF allocation to upgrade their para-transit vans in several cities, which helps increase the independence of residents in those cities.

Infrastructure Canada has a solid track record of investing in infrastructure that meets accessibility codes. In our project agreements we require proponents to confirm that their public infrastructure meets the appropriate access requirements for persons with disabilities, including those set at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels. This requirement remains in place under our new programs.

The government's long-term infrastructure plan was further expanded and updated in the recent fall economic statement, which laid out the fiscal framework for the government's long-term infrastructure plan.

This fall economic statement strengthens the government's commitment to long-term growth for the middle class. It proposes an additional investment of $81 billion over 11 years, starting in 2017-18.

This means $25.3 billion for public transit infrastructure, $21.9 billion for green infrastructure, $21.9 billion for social infrastructure, $10.1 billion for transportation that supports trade, and $2 billion for Canada's rural and northern communities.

The fall economic statement also introduced two new initiatives, the Canada infrastructure bank and the smart city challenge. The Canada infrastructure bank will be responsible for investing at least $35 billion from the federal government in large infrastructure projects that contribute to economic growth through loans, loan guarantees, and equity investments.

Part of this amount—$15 billion—will be sourced from the announced funding for public transit, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation, and rural and northern communities.

The smart city challenge is modelled on similar competitions around the world and aims to accelerate the planning and adoption of innovative urban infrastructure. It will be an opportunity for cities to innovate, take risks, and think outside the box to address mobility, environmental, and social challenges. The smart city challenge is set to launch this year.

Further evidence of the Government of Canada's support for innovative change in its cities is two new funds that Minister Sohi announced last week in partnership with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

The municipal asset management program is a five-year program that aims to encourage best practices in the field of asset management, helping municipalities to make informed infrastructure investment decisions.

A key focus of the program will be to raise awareness about the importance of asset management practices as a tool to increase value for money and improve the long-term performance of municipal infrastructure such as roads, recreational facilities, and water and wastewater systems.

The second fund announced was the municipalities for climate innovation program. This is also a five-year program, and it aims to accelerate action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning toward low-carbon communities. Both of these programs are being delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with funding from the Government of Canada. We will continue to work closely with the FCM to monitor, assess, and report on the results and outcomes of the programs as they are under way.

The committee has before it a study that will help to shape the future of Canadian urban planning and poverty reduction.

I wish you success in your study and I look forward to studying the committee's findings.

Thank you again for inviting me to speak today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you for being here.

From Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, we have Stephen Van Dine, assistant deputy minister, northern affairs organization.

[Stephen Van Dine, Assistant Deputy Minister, Northern Affairs Organization, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I wish to thank the committee for inviting me here today to share with you news of the important work that we are doing through the nutrition north Canada program.

It is a pleasure to be here today. I am also pleased to be here with Jeff Moore to talk about the issues currently facing the committee. I'm going to take a slightly different perspective on what you've heard so far and turn it to nutrition and access to nutritious and perishable foods.

As we know, a nutritious diet is essential to good physical and mental health, and access to affordable, nutritious food remains a challenge for many families in isolated northern communities. There has been some research recently conducted on this, and we've been able to determine that for communities without year-round access to surface transportation, the cost of living and doing business is approximately ten times higher than in the rest of Canada. These costs, coupled with low incomes, make it more difficult for many northerners to afford a nutritious diet from store-bought foods. At Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, we are working to ensure that northern families living in isolated communities have improved access to affordable nutritious food.

The Government of Canada has subsidized food and other essential items in northern communities since the 1960s.

The program began as the northern air stage program, and then it moved to Canada Post and then eventually to Indian and Northern Affairs in 1991.

Escalating and unpredictable program costs, lack of transparency and accountability, and the need to support healthy food choices brought about a desire for us to change and update the program. Nutrition north Canada has also introduced for the first time a nutrition education component delivered by Health Canada, given that there are a number of factors that influence healthy eating beyond food cost. Further, in order to give northerners a direct voice in the program, the external nutrition north Canada advisory board was established as part of the program's governance structure. The advisory board, composed mainly of northerners, provides ongoing advice to the minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada on the direction and activities of the program.

Nutrition North Canada was announced on May 21, 2010, and launched on April 1, 2011. The objective of the program is to help make perishable, nutritious food more accessible and more affordable than it otherwise would be to residents of eligible isolated northern communities without year round surface (road, rail or marine) access.

Nutrition north replaced the food mail program's transportation subsidy with a retail-based food subsidy to support the provision of nutritious foods to residents of isolated northern communities. While the former program focused on contracts with transportation providers, with nutrition north Canada, retailers and suppliers can choose the most effective options for their goods and take advantage of evolving transportation systems in the north, including alternative modes of shipping such as airships and sealifts.

As the Nutrition north subsidy is applied to the cost of stocking and/or shipping perishable foods in the north, retailers and suppliers can ship the most perishable nutritious foods by air while using more cost-effective options, like winter roads and sealifts, to transport non-perishables and non-food items.

The subsidy therefore enables eligible retailers and suppliers to lower the cost of healthy foods like meat, fish, eggs, milk and bread, as well as fruit and vegetables. In recognizing the importance of country foods to the northern diet, the subsidy is also applied to country foods processed in commercial plants that are government regulated and/or approved for export.

The impact of this program is enhanced by nutrition education initiatives in eligible communities. These initiatives are led by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, and aim to increase knowledge of healthy eating, skills development in choosing and preparing healthy store-bought foods and country foods, and strengthen retail-community partnerships.

The nutrition north Canada program continues to work to enhance program transparency and accountability to Canadians. In keeping with its response to the recommendations outlined in the Auditor General's fall report in 2014, the program has completed a full review of its community eligibility criteria and a full assessment of the eligibility of all isolated northern communities. This work resulted in an addition of 37 communities. As of October 1, 2016, a total of 121 isolated communities across the north now have access to the full benefits of the program.

Budget 2016 provided an additional $64.5 million to the NNC program over five years, beginning in 2016-17, and $13.8 million per year ongoing, starting in 2021, to support this expansion. But we know we need to do more than just add communities to the program. We're hearing from northerners that the cost of food is still too high. We are also learning from internal audits and evaluations, as well as from the Auditor General's report, that we need to consider all options for program sustainability. In response we are working to enhance the program's ability to meet the needs of northerners and to be more transparent, accountable, and culturally appropriate.

As a result, between May and December 2016, NNC conducted an engagement process with northerners, indigenous organizations, and other key stakeholders to gather ideas on how to improve the program while keeping it on a sustainable path. Engagement activities included over 20 community meetings across the country, key stakeholder interviews, as well as the conduct of a survey and written submissions. Through the findings of the engagement process, we will be working with northerners to update the nutrition north Canada program so that they, along with their families, can have improved access to affordable and healthy food.

To conclude, the high cost of living and food security is a complex and multi-faceted issue that requires a broad spectrum of responses, and we at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada are committed to doing our part in collaboration with our partners both within and outside the federal government to strengthen the nutritional choices of northerners living in isolated communities, and by extension, to improve their long-term health outcomes so that they may participate fully in the livelihood of their communities.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much, sir.

To start us off, we are going to MP Vecchio.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Perfect. Thank you very much.

I want to start with Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

When we talk about the housing strategies and transparency, what are we doing to make sure that the money that is being forwarded for housing, allocated for that, is being spent and that the final end product is the housing there?

[Stephen Van Dine]

Thank you.

I'll preface my comments by saying that we have two housing initiatives. One is targeted towards on-reserve and those in northern parts of the country. For the on-reserve, all of the funding agreements require reporting and transparency elements for all new funds that were provided in 2016 and beyond.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Okay, thank you very much.

[Stephen Van Dine]

Thank you.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

I want to go to Mr. Moore.

I'm looking at the infrastructure budget. Being from a rural part of Canada, the $2 billion for Canada's rural and northern communities stands out. I want to look at that, because I want to make sure, when we're looking at social infrastructure or green infrastructure, that this is not specifically to one area, but for all of Canada, and that it is just a top-up of that $2 billion for rural projects, such as roads and highways.

[Jeff Moore]

Yes, we do have $2 billion set aside for northern and rural communities. On top of that, those communities could also take advantage of the funding that you find under social infrastructure and some of the other elements of the infrastructure plan moving forward.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Okay, fantastic.

You mentioned the infrastructure bank. Once again, being from a smaller community, I know I've advised that we need to do regional approaches, because many of our small communities will not be able to be funded through this program because of the bottom, the floor to that.

What are your recommendations so that we can link the infrastructure bank to the end to poverty? Do you see something there that would work? Are there any innovative solutions that you think applicants should focus on? What can we do there?

[Jeff Moore]

I don't have answers to that, to be honest. What I can tell you is that the infrastructure bank is one of many tools that will be available to proponents to access innovative financing. At the end of the day, the bank will be there to look at trying to support those projects where we could actually bring private sector money to the table. So it's really trying to crowd in additional private sector money to try to address the infrastructure gap.

As I said in my remarks, there are some innovative tools that the bank will have access to, such as loan guarantees and loans, as well as equity investments. The important thing to note with the infrastructure bank is that, while it is part of the toolkit that communities will be able to access, it's not mandatory for provinces, territories, and municipalities. So they would have the choice to use the bank if it makes sense to them in terms of what they're trying to do.

Certainly if communities want to be involved in the infrastructure bank, there may be opportunities to provide some capacity building to them in order to access those particular tools.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

I want to get a little bit more specific here, but it's got a breakdown of the total infrastructure funding that's allocated to first nations reserve versus what is invested in the rest of Canada. It says on the website that some of the $3.4 billion invested in social infrastructure is going to reserves. But then it also says that some of the $3.4 is going to community health care on reserves.

Can you target exactly where this money is going, and if we are looking at all of Canada versus those portions of Canada? Can you give me a little insight on that as well?

[Jeff Moore]

Certainly, the total investment we're making under phase one of the infrastructure plan through budget 2016 does amount to approximately $3.5 billion. Under that, we have money set aside for water and waste water on reserve, which is approximately $1.1 or $1.2 billion. There's also $400 million set aside for waste management, solid waste management on reserve. We have $270 million for community health facilities on reserve, which is basically your $270 million.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Got it.

[Jeff Moore]

That's for community health facilities on reserve; for example, nursing stations. There's $732 million for housing needs on reserve in Inuit communities and for the north. In addition to that, there's $129 million for the repair and renovation of indigenous early learning and child care facilities; $77 million for cultural and recreational facilities on reserve; and $10 million for shelters for victims who are fleeing violence.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much.

I have one more minute, okay. Sorry about that; it's fantastic.

Let's go back to the nutrition and the food security issue. How much federal money is being used to combat food insecurity and the high costs of living on reserves through programs such as nutrition north Canada?

[Stephen Van Dine]

It's important to distinguish that this is for fly-in communities only in the high north. The program began in 2011 with a program base of $60 million. That has grown since 2011. I believe this year we are just shy of $83 million.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Now we'll go over to MP Robillard, please.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Van Dine, I imagine that a housing strategy embedded in a poverty reduction strategy would contribute to the residential stability of many Canadians.

Can you tell us about the short-term and long-term impact of implementing more thorough affordable housing policies on our most vulnerable populations, such as seniors and First Nations?

[Stephen Van Dine]

Thank you for your question.

I will answer first and then perhaps ask my colleague to add to my remarks.

Budget 2016 included an increase in funding for the housing of First Nations, Inuit and Métis as part of the agreements with the provinces.

Northern housing requires an agreement between the federal government and the provinces. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is responsible for agreements with each province and territory. In 2006, we increased the funding for the housing of indigenous people in the north.

What was the amount, Mr. Moore?

[Jeff Moore]

As I said, the amount is $732 million over three years. That includes the north, Inuit communities and those living on reserves.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

We'll be able to check it since we'll be in Kuujjuaq tomorrow. We will ask the Makivik Corporation some questions.

Mr. Moore, the mandate letter for the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities states that the minister must improve access to, and governance of, existing infrastructure programs, including social infrastructure, such as affordable housing and seniors' facilities.

How much attention does your department pay to affordable housing for seniors in the country? What tangible objectives are you able to set for next year, for instance? How will those measures help alleviate poverty for the most vulnerable segments of our population?