Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of this committee, for the invitation to speak today.
My name's Herb Lehr. I'm the elected president of the Metis Settlements General Council, MSGC. I think it's critical for all of you to understand that the Métis settlements are unique [Technical difficulty—Editor] by any other Métis group in Canada. We are the only legislated land [Technical difficulty—Editor] from other Métis people. That brings with it challenges, but, more importantly, opportunities. That's what I want to focus on today: the opportunities.
Let's not talk about the past. I'm certain you've been flooded with information that shows the efforts of the past have not served our people well, however well-intentioned. Your own agency, Statistics Canada, contains the evidence that housing in our communities is inadequate.
One of the flaws of focusing on statistics is that they don't demonstrate that the problem of housing spills beyond the borders of our communities. Rundown homes and a lack of housing force our people to leave their communities, and houselessness follows them wherever they go.
In Canada, Métis has the fastest growing population. Fifty-five per cent of our settlement populations are under the age of 20 and 28% are under the age of five. Without access to housing, we lose these young, vibrant people who are full of potential from our communities, and we know it contributes to serious child welfare issues, as well as other social problems.
If we look beyond these statistics and see the promise of our young people, and if we take the opportunity to look at housing differently and holistically, we can reinvigorate our communities from the ground up. The current system sees only one type of family: the nuclear family. Building codes reflect this bias, so our non-nuclear families, with multiple generations sharing this type of space, suffer as a result. Overcrowding, mould [Technical difficulty—Editor] infrastructure plague our communities, forcing our people to leave and to seek something better, but they find that it is no better. Far too often, it is worse. Away from their families, communities and support systems, our people are alone and vulnerable.
Our communities have always been forced to address housing in the most reactive and cost-efficient ways, very often in times of crisis. This is because the existing housing was not designed to withstand our remote, rural and extreme environments. The result of this is that our people are living in trailers and modular homes that were supposed to be a band-aid until something better came along, but nothing better has come.
I'm here to ask for the chance to plan our homes and communities using new technologies that better align with our traditional values. We want to have the latitude to have Métis homes built by Métis people. We want any funding provided for housing to include funds for capacity, so that our people can be trained to build these new, culturally relevant and sustainable homes. We not only want the long-term homes that our people deserve; we want to stimulate our communities' economies in ways that tap into the existing skills of our members, but also recognize the potential of those young people who haven't yet chosen a path.
New agreements and programs must recognize the true cost of building homes in remote and rural communities. We need to be able to stock materials, take advantage of bulk buying and have materials at hand when they are needed.
There needs to be a recognition of the fact that our people don't live cheek to cheek with their neighbours, so supporting infrastructure is more costly. We need housing that recognizes that many of our people have disabilities, so our homes require accommodations. We need housing that recognizes that our elders are cared for by their families at home for far longer than is common in non-indigenous communities. We also need to address older homes in need of renovations and repairs, and require an overhaul of the aging infrastructure that supports these homes.
In addition, we want to look at innovative, environmentally friendly solutions, like solar energy and hemp homes, aerated concrete homes that are mould-resistant, fireproof and have a lifespan of 100-plus years. While we are moving forward with our federal framework agreement, immediate funding is needed if we are to address the housing shortages that the settlements have faced for far too long.
In closing, thank you again to the committee for the invitation to speak here today. We will provide some housing data later this week, so that you will leave with the big picture and have all the details.
I would now be pleased to answer any questions you may have. [Technical difficulty—Editor]