Thank you, Chair.
Thank you once again, Karen, for this report. I asked you if I could say “Karen”, as it's a little easier and a little nicer.
I was just up in a remote community, where I met Kevin. He was there raising his three grandchildren in a very difficult housing situation. There was mould in different spots in the house. I don't think there was one working window in the house. The bathroom sink couldn't function. Can you imagine a bathroom not working with all these kids and what kind of situation that was? I'm sure they felt despair in that situation.
I contrast that with Brian. Many years ago, his parents were couch surfing, and eventually they got a house. He said it was life-changing for them as a family. Once his dad had a house, he became an electrician, his mom became an administrator and the world opened up to them in a positive way. You have two contrasts—despair and opportunity.
What's troubling for me is what you mentioned in your report. This was brought up before, and I empathize with you if you've been in the office that long—maybe not as the boss, but working in the office. This has happened before. In a previous Conservative government in 2008, there was a report similar to this report. Some action actually happened from it. It was called the mouldy housing strategy and there was a real effort to combat those issues in those terrible housing situations.
I'll get to my question, but I'd like you to expand on that a bit more. Didn't you find that they were following that advice and using the methodology of making sure things get better?