Good morning and thank you for being here with us.
When we started talking about doing a housing study and received the documents, I was not altogether certain, both personally and on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, that it was justified. A very nice document was prepared, which we received from the Library of Parliament thanks to Ms. Hurley. It is a study on aboriginal housing.
I do not know if the people present occupied the same positions in 1992 as they do today. In any case, the Conservatives will not be able to accuse the Liberals of having done nothing on this issue. The Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs tabled a report in December 1992 that included 14 recommendations. I will read you recommendation No. 7.
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada address immediately the health and safety deficiencies of aboriginal and northern housing. These communities must have indoor water supplies, indoor plumbing, adequate sewage disposal systems, and adequate fire protection services.
I will also read you recommendation No. 8, which is intended for the CMHC:
Building codes, design requirements, and material and labour specifications must be more flexible in order to permit the type of housing which meets the needs of aboriginal and northern communities and utilizes local resources.
Would you like to hear some more similar ones? Personally, I am not proud of the situation. We are not going to begin studies that will produce no results. I know as well as you do that there has been a population explosion in these communities over the last 15 years. We are told that tobacco use will likely cause health problems. Within the scope of these studies, no one understood that there was a housing problem in the aboriginal communities, because there were too many people in the houses. Could anyone answer me and state that indeed there are too many people in the houses and that $300 million or $400 million more per year are needed? That is what I would have liked to have heard today.
I won't go any further. In fact, we may just be carrying out a study producing the same reports and the same recommendations as 15 years ago. Give me an example, a single one, that proves to me that these recommendations have been followed, and tell me what the situation is today.