Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Alvina Paul. I am council-elect of the shíshálh Nation. I am coming to you from the unceded territories of the Coast Salish people of British Columbia.
I am delighted to accept this invitation to speak to you today on this very important matter. The challenges related to the shortage of housing are rampant throughout first nations communities and their respective swiyas across the country of Canada.
The shortage of housing has been our highest priority and something we are very familiar with. Our current leadership team and previous leaders have always made it our mission to establish affordable and sustainable housing for our people.
I come to you with a good heart, to share the struggles and desperation for the lack of housing in our community.
This is to emphasize the importance of the housing crisis. Our community has made great strides in developing land and developing the resources necessary to house our members. We are approximately 1,500 strong in our nation. We have about 50% of our people living within our swiya and far fewer living on the shíshálh Nation lands.
Due to the already impossible cost of living we are facing today, our people are unable to afford the homes in the rental market and are often unable to attain their own mortgages. It is, and always has been, our intent to build homes for our shíshálh Nation members.
We have multiple generations living together under one roof. Most homes are made up of youth aging out of care, single-parent families and elders. A study we had commissioned confirms that we have overcrowded homes and a population of transient or unhomed members who find themselves couch surfing as they are unable to afford housing on their own. Additionally, members have taken opportunities to purchase homes that we have for lease to non-nation people to generate revenue. The lack of our housing has pushed our nation members to purchase those homes to live in so that they can live within the community.
There are currently 165 homes within our four nation subdivisions and the nation is currently developing a new subdivision of 44 service lots with funding that we have received from the self-governing indigenous governments negotiations.
As it currently stands, we have well over 100 people on our housing waiting list, each coming from different family sizes and circumstances. It is our belief that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as many of our nation members are reluctant to submit applications, knowing the severity of the housing crisis within our nation. At this point our people are forced to leave their traditional lands to find affordable housing in other communities, separating them from their families and culture. These families deserve access to nation-provided services, as well as strong family values and the support promoted by the security of community and encouragement of traditional and cultural practices. More importantly, they deserve the opportunity to participate in the preservation of our language.
Housing in our community is our number one priority and we would like to have the opportunity to build everyone a home within our community, but of course that takes resources. My predecessors and my co-council have maintained for years that providing housing will benefit the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our nation members.
We would like to increase our capacity to build homes to ensure that we have our shíshálh Nation living together communally like we once had.
In closing, I would like to wish you all well and to acknowledge all our nations across this great country.
Thank you.