Evidence of meeting #4 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was funding.
A recording is available from Parliament.
7:50 p.m.
Director, Indigenous and the North Housing Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Mr. Chair, I'm not sure if that's a question directed to ESDC, who are responsible for the homelessness programming.
7:50 p.m.
Director General, Reconciliation Secretariat, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to defer to Kris Johnson.
7:50 p.m.
Director General, Homelessness Policy Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
Sure. Generally, we allow our community partners to reserve up to 15% of the funding for administration. The actual amounts vary by community.
7:50 p.m.
Conservative
7:50 p.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
That's good. Thanks.
Coming back again to the rapid housing initiative and the major cities stream, I see that the City of Toronto has been allocated just over $203 million. I understand it would be for the city to determine whether or how indigenous homelessness would be addressed or folded into any of the programs that they may have with regard to shelters or newly acquired housing. Is that correct?
7:50 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
That's correct. However, we do ask for an investment plan to be provided with each application, and we are looking for at least 15% of the projects to be targeted towards indigenous populations within the cities.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
Very briefly, do you have any numbers available for the meeting tonight in terms of your estimate of indigenous homelessness in the city of Toronto?
7:55 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
I don't have that with me right now, but I'm very happy to provide that after the meeting.
7:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. Kent.
Next, we're going to go back to Mr. McLeod for five minutes.
7:55 p.m.
Liberal
Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I did have a few more comments and questions.
First of all, in the north we don't have reserves, but we have indigenous communities. The community I live in is 95% indigenous, but it's not a reserve. We have a lot of band councils. I think almost every community has a band council, and we have 33 communities. If there are first nations in the communities, there's a band council.
A number of programs have come forward that we're struggling to access, as indigenous governments are trying to put in applications.
First of all, in any of the programs that involve cost-sharing, there are limits to what they can do if they don't have the resources. Under the co-investment fund, we've seen no applications approved under the carve-out for the Northwest Territories. The shelter initiative also needs ongoing operating funds that, in other parts of the country, would come from Indigenous Services Canada.
There is a program that I think is called the ministerial loan guarantee. I want to ask the representative from Indigenous Services about this. This program was set up in 1966 and it was designed to help indigenous communities off reserve to access programs, to do initiatives in the area of housing, but we haven't been successful. We have not been able to get one project approved. Could you maybe tell me why that might be? Is there something in it that doesn't allow the Northwest Territories indigenous governments to be able to access that fund?
7:55 p.m.
Director General, Community Infrastructure Branch, Department of Indigenous Services
I thank you very much for the question.
The ministerial loan guarantees were created predominantly because first nations needed the ability to access financing and markets. Due to the fact that they were on reserve, there were elements within the Indian Act that prohibited the use of the lands for collateral, so that is why most of the ministerial loan guarantees have been directed towards first nations on reserve.
In terms of the specific questions about the access to ministerial loan guarantees off reserve, where they are on Crown lands, that's a question I'll have to get back to you on.
7:55 p.m.
Liberal
Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT
Okay. In this case it's probably disputed lands, then, because most of the lands here are disputed and under land claim negotiations.
I have another question regarding the funding that's been going to national indigenous organizations. There has been $1.5 billion, which has been very well received by those organizations, but there are self-governing indigenous governments, SGIGs, to which two nations here in the Northwest Territories belong.
They've done a lot of work to develop pride and a strong, independent nation, but it seems they've been left out of the funding announcements. Is there a reason we wouldn't recognize self-governing nations that have signed agreements with Canada and agreed to co-manage, co-exist? Why wouldn't we recognize them as being able and willing partners to deliver programs, while we recognize other ones?
That's my question.
7:55 p.m.
Director General, Community Infrastructure Branch, Department of Indigenous Services
Thank you very much for the question.
Self-governing and modern treaty nations have the ability to access funding through the ISC housing programming. It is done through an application-based process, like all other first nations, recognizing the unique characteristics of self-governing modern treaties. They can access the housing funds that are provided by Indigenous Services Canada.
7:55 p.m.
Liberal
Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT
Would you be able to provide me—maybe not right now, but later on—with a list of those that have, in the Northwest Territories? I'm not aware of any.
There also seems to be a problem with the two reserves we have in the Northwest Territories, which are the responsibility of the Government of Northwest Territories. The Government of Northwest Territories says they are a federal reserve and they're a responsibility of our government.
How do you guys see that?
8 p.m.
Director General, Community Infrastructure Branch, Department of Indigenous Services
Just recently, funding was provided to Salt River, to support the development in their community that would allow for future development for housing, etc. It's allowing for the necessary infrastructure that would support housing going on in the community. That money was provided this summer.
8 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. McLeod and Mr. Westmacott.
Next we're going to go to Mr. Vis, please, for five minutes.
8 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Thank you.
If my questions are repeated, it's because I had a technical issue and had to log off.
Going back to my questions with CMHC, I'd like to follow up on what we were discussing on the rapid housing initiative. For the $500-million envelope that's remaining, are there guarantees that the money is going to be used appropriately? Are reporting mechanisms embedded into the agreements that have been established for this fund?
8 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
The short answer is yes. There is a reporting mechanism being established, and we expect reporting to continue for the 20 years we expect affordability to be maintained in these housing units that are created.
8 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Would those tools for transparency and accountability be different from funds in the national co-investment fund?
8 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
We take seriously our responsibility to provide governance and due diligence, and the different types of due diligence and governance depend on the nature of the program. However, it's always our intent to make sure the funds are being used for their intended purpose.
8 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
I learned from a number of housing providers in meetings that under the national co-investment fund it's taking an exorbitant amount of time to receive those funds. Evan Siddall did tell this committee that they have improved the disbursement of government monies, or CMHC funds, to housing applicants. However, we haven't received that data yet.
I'm wondering why the applications for the co-investment fund take over a year, yet CMHC was able to develop a program that I am assuming from what you just told me has similar reporting mechanisms that can be delivered in under a month. Why the discrepancy?
8 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
We will follow up on the information you're still waiting for with respect to changes in our processes regarding the disbursement of funds under the national housing co-investment fund.
We have worked very hard over the last year to reduce the processing time by 50%. The data will provide some indication of that.
The RHI is a different program. It's 100% contribution versus being a loan. Given the nature of the different types of funding, our processes are very different, and our governance is different as well.