Evidence of meeting #6 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was service.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Evan Siddall  President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Clerk of the Committee  Ms. Marie-France Lafleur
Graham Flack  Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development, Department of Employment and Social Development
Lori MacDonald  Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development, and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada, Department of Employment and Social Development

7 p.m.

Liberal

Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, do I have any time left?

7 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sean Casey

No, you do not.

Thank you very much, Mr. Housefather and Minister.

Ms. Chabot, you may go ahead for two and a half minutes.

7 p.m.

Bloc

Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC

Good evening, Minister.

I would hope that you've had a chance to speak with your Quebec counterpart since you took office. I'd like to talk about social housing.

You will recall that, long before the crisis, we had spoken in the House about the housing crisis and the challenges that exist throughout the provinces, including Quebec. We talked about the importance of the agreement, which you will tell us hasn't been reached with Quebec but clearly deprives Quebec of $1.4 billion so that it can fully exercise its jurisdiction.

The crisis is making the housing situation worse, particularly when it comes to homelessness and low-income housing. The health and safety conditions in low-income housing units are worrisome, especially in a time of crisis.

Minister, I trust you can assure us that Quebec will not be denied funding it should be getting under the national strategy. I'd also like to hear your take on the discussions you had with your Quebec counterpart.

7 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

That's a very good question. I confirm for the member that of the Reaching Home COVID-19 money we are flowing to different communities across the country to respond to the homeless population, the money allocated to Quebec has flowed to Quebec, and we have reached agreement with the Government of Quebec to flow that money to the communities that need it.

In terms of the Canada housing accord,

we want to make sure that Quebeckers get their fair share of this government's historic investment in housing. We hope to reach a bilateral agreement with the Quebec government, as with the other provinces and territories. We made a commitment to reach a bilateral agreement with the province of Quebec based on partnership, co-operation, consensus and accountability.

It's not about imposing an agreement; rather, it's about working with the Quebec government to make a real difference in the lives of Quebeckers who want an affordable place to call home.

7 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sean Casey

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Chabot.

Ms. Kwan, you have two and a half minutes, please.

7 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Minister, are the Liberals looking at policies with respect to purchase of distressed assets that currently potentially would be on the market, and would the government consider putting restrictions on the purchase of those assets from predatory purchasers?

7 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

To use the example of the City of Montreal, the municipal government passed a bylaw to empower the city to have the right of first refusal for properties that are abandoned, and then obviously once it does that, we can then use the national housing strategy to fund any housing project proposal brought forward by the municipal government or by an NGO. I think that would be the way to go about it.

7:05 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Perhaps off-line, Minister, I'd like to follow up with you a bit further, because I think there are a number of other options that perhaps the government can consider in this regard. I think it would be very important for us to try to secure those assets to build up the housing stock.

I have another issue I want to raise very quickly. Earlier I said that the urban indigenous support for Vancouver East was 0.019%. It's 1.69%, so I stand corrected. It's slightly more. It's less than 2%, albeit we're only the third-largest urban indigenous community across the country, so suffice it to say it is deficient funding.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

I'm not going to argue. I am just going to record that I disagree with your number. The community—

7:05 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

In that case, Minister, it would be very helpful for me to get the actual numbers from the government, program by program, in terms of its contribution in support of communities and organizations through the COVID-19 pandemic, not just for Vancouver East but across the country as well, because I think that—

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

If I may, as the parliamentary secretary—

7:05 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Sorry—Mr. Chair? Mr. Chair?

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

As someone who's involved, I'll ask the minister if I can share some time in his answer.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

Yes, go ahead, Adam.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

In the design of Reaching Home, first of all, we don't fund ridings, we fund districts, so when we do outreach programs in Vancouver, between Vancouver East and Vancouver Kingsway we don't make outreach workers log which riding they're in when they're doing their work. We fund the service across the city.

Second, in Vancouver in particular, recognizing the strength and the capacity of the indigenous housing providers, the entire Vancouver community entity is indigenous-led.

7:05 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

Marcel Swain leads the process there, and they are not forbidden. They—

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sean Casey

We have a point of order, Mr. Vaughan.

Go ahead, Mr. Albas.

7:05 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Mr. Chair, this is becoming a debate. The minister is our witness, and so are the officials. I don't understand how we are allowing a witness to pass the floor to a committee member to answer a question. This will end up being a debate. I would like you to resolve this situation.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sean Casey

I have resolved it by recognizing Mr. Vaughan.

Please finish your answer. We're just about out of time, Mr. Vaughan. Please keep it short.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

This is just to say that the community entity that handles the main Vancouver transfer is not forbidden or prevented from funding indigenous services. In fact, they're led by indigenous organizations, and they do in fact do that, so—

7:05 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Sorry, my—

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON

—to narrow it just to one part of the program would be wrong, and it's impossible to do a riding-by-riding breakdown. We've explained this to you several times.

7:05 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Well, Mr. Chair—

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sean Casey

Thank you, Ms. Kwan. That is your time, and—