Human Resources Committee on Nov. 17th, 2020

[Chantal Marin-Comeau]

First, from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, we can get back to you with that information, but as you know, the full department is dedicated to indigenous services. Would you like to be more specific in terms of housing for Inuit and Métis, or maybe add a bit more specificity?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Yes, just for first nations, Inuit and Métis, how many people work on all of those programs under your department? What is the budget allocation, both for administration and for program implementation or program costs? What is the average cost per unit for producing a unit of housing through the federal government?

I'm trying to get a broad understanding of what the federal government is doing right now to help all committee members provide positive recommendations moving forward as we work on this study.

[Chantal Marin-Comeau]

Absolutely.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you. I didn't expect everyone to have that information, but I wanted to get it on the record.

Mr. Westmacott, I don't believe you'd have that information today, would you?

[Chad Westmacott]

I do not, in terms of the actual specifics such as the number of people, or the average cost per unit. I would say, though, that the cost per unit will vary extensively depending on where it is in the country and the different conditions there, but we can get back to you with better information.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Even if you were able to provide a regional breakdown, say for average cost per unit in British Columbia versus in Ontario or the territories, that would be very helpful for all of us. It kind of goes along the lines of my NDP colleague's questions as well. If you could provide that information back to all committee members, that would be very helpful.

Thank you, sir.

On the rapid housing initiative, could we have some clarification from CMHC, please? You mentioned that there were two streams, the $500 million allocated to mostly urban communities and another $500 million that is going to be prioritized by CMHC officials. Why was there an initial $500 million prioritized for mostly urban communities in Canada when it's very clear that in northern Canada and in the territories, the priority is just as great as it is in those urban areas?

I raise this question because I heard back from the Government of the Northwest Territories recently, which outlined the acute challenges being faced in Yellowknife especially.

[Romy Bowers]

Thank you very much for that question, Mr. Vis.

With respect to the first stream, the 15 large municipalities were chosen based on where severe housing need existed in Canada. We looked at homelessness based on the statistics provided by Statistics Canada and some of the PiT assessments that were provided by various providers, so that is the answer on the first part.

However, recognizing that homelessness exists in other areas of Canada, we established a separate project stream. I may not have been clear about this previously, so my apologies for that, but the second stream of $500 million is based on an application program. Anyone in Canada is invited to apply and we will assess the projects based on need.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Under the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Vis.

Thank you, Ms. Bowers.

Next we have Mr. Turnbull .

Go ahead, please, for five minutes.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all the panellists for being here today. I'm really glad we're embarking on this study. It's important work, and I appreciate your being key resources as we do this work.

I want to give most of my time to my colleague Mr. McLeod, but I have just a couple of questions.

Similar to Mr. Vis, I'm seeking some documentation and I want to get those questions out.

Ms. Marin-Comeau, would you be able to table a list of programs and the amounts of funding associated with those programs for anything to do with urban, rural and northern indigenous housing needs? Could you table a document with a list of those funding pockets and programs?

[Chantal Marin-Comeau]

I think this is a question for my other federal colleagues. At Crown-Indigenous Relations, we're really doing Inuit and Métis Nation. Maybe other colleagues would like to pipe in as well.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Would you be able to table any documents in relation to Inuit and Métis Nation?

[Chantal Marin-Comeau]

Absolutely.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Okay. Great. Thank you.

To move over to Mr. Westmacott, I have a similar question. If I may, I'll ask you if you wouldn't mind tabling a list of funding and specific programs.

Based on my current limited understanding, I think there is urban programming for indigenous people, and there's the indigenous community support fund. I'm also interested in learning a bit more about the indigenous homes innovation initiative, which you spoke to in your opening remarks.

Would you be able to table more information on the funding and the specific programs associated with each of those streams?

[Chad Westmacott]

Absolutely. For those programs related to housing, we'd be more than happy to provide those lists.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

That's much appreciated.

I'll give the rest of my time to Mr. McLeod.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Go ahead, Mr. McLeod. Welcome to the committee. You have the floor.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Turnbull, for sharing some time with me. I really wanted to take a few minutes to make a couple of comments and ask a few questions.

This issue is very near and dear to my heart. I'm one of the few MPs, if not the only MP, to live in an indigenous community. I live in a community called Fort Providence, in the Northwest Territories, and I'm so glad that this committee is doing this study. It's something that's long overdue. We really need to have a committee take the time to understand what's going on in indigenous communities across the country, and specifically in the north.

In the north, we have the highest rate of suicide. We have the highest rate of murder. We have the highest rates of sexual abuse, of TB—we have it all here.

We heard tonight that the national core need is, on average, around 18%. In the Northwest Territories, it's at 42%. That's up 20% from the 2016 federal census. For us, things are not going in the right direction.

We have put a lot of money into the north, but not a lot of it is going towards housing. We have many challenges. The government has made a lot of investments, historic amounts of investment for indigenous people across the country, but it has been focused on national indigenous organizations. I think you really need to take a look at that. This committee has to take a good look at where it's going.

For us in the north, we don't belong to the national indigenous organizations, so the $1.5 billion for national organizations for housing doesn't come to us, and that's very concerning. The Reaching Home program is only for Yellowknife, so it's causing other problems because communities.... Are you asking me to pause?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

No. I'm just letting you know that you have one minute.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Okay.

Many things are not working for us, and I wanted to ask the presenters who are here for their presentations about this. We heard a lot about investment in the north and investing in indigenous people. I don't agree that it's really happening with the way it is. For example, on the shelter initiative that's sitting there, there are two units for three territories. That's not going to work. There are no applications—no applications for the carve-out for investment.

The question is, how do you propose we tackle the housing crisis in the north when we're actually losing ground with what we've been doing? Is there something new that you can point to that is changing the tide we're in?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Whom do you want to address that question to, Mr. McLeod?

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

I want to address it to CMHC and to Indigenous Services.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Okay.

Ms. Bowers, go ahead, and with a short answer, if you could, please.

[Romy Bowers]

Yes. I'd like to defer this answer to my colleague Lindsay Neeley, who actually leads a team of housing specialists who serve indigenous communities in the north.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

We'll have a brief answer, please, Ms. Neeley.