Qujannamiik. Thank you to the committee for the invitation to speak today.
My name is Kenny Bell. I am the mayor of the City of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. I'm also the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities.
I took a lot of time and effort to choose my words wisely and precisely to ensure that I not only share important information but also the pain and sorrow that the lack of housing has brought to the citizens of Nunavut, especially Inuit.
I'm not here to speak on behalf of Inuit. I am here to speak as a friend, a lifelong friend. I was born and raised in the north.
As Mr. Devereaux pointed out in his speech, 56% of Inuit households experience overcrowding which we know contributes to many different social problems, including abuse, and to our long-standing and current suicide crisis. Inuit commit suicide 10 times the Canadian average, and most are young Inuit men.
As a parent, I know my first priority is to provide for my family, but how can one even start when it's almost impossible to find a roof to put over my family's head?
The federal government needs to change the way money is disbursed in the north and recognize that significantly more is required to meet the deficit in available housing stock. For instance, housing money for Nunavut in budget 2016-17 totalled $316.7 million over eight years. The Government of Nunavut has estimated that it will be approximately 83 houses per year. Again, as Mr. Devereaux pointed out, there is a projected budget deficit of 3,100 to 5,000 units, and the population continues to swell, meaning Nunavut will never be able to catch up at the current rate.
Moreover, money is disbursed per annum and must be used by the end of the fiscal year. However, this doesn't always line up with Nunavut's relatively short shipping and construction seasons. Multi-year funding where funds are received in full and can be used up during the course of five or 10 years would enable better planning and more efficient use of all the funds.
I ran for mayor in 2019 because of our infrastructure deficits, including water and housing. I started a mayor's task force on affordable housing, and it has several important recommendations that I'd like to highlight today. I can make that report available to the committee members once it is translated into French, as it is currently only available in English and Inuktitut.
Inclusion of off-site improvements as qualifying expenditures under CMHC's and other federally funded programs would bring Nunavut in line with other jurisdictions where off-site improvements qualify for CMHC funding. One large part of the issue is the lack of developable land in the territory. Millions of dollars are required just to prepare land and extend infrastructure in order to support new housing units.
The second recommendation is to create partnerships with Inuit organizations. The GN alone cannot support the building of all new housing stocks. In fact, due to government procurement policies, the GN has seen construction-related bids inflated to a point where the GN is building at a significantly higher cost per square foot when compared to the private sector.
The third recommendation is to keep in mind the issue regarding the lack of developable land. The conversion of federally controlled buildings that are currently sitting empty to affordable housing may be an important factor in addressing the growing deficit.
The fourth recommendation is to reduce the amount of red tape that acts as a barrier to non-profit organizations accessing funding. For example, the rapid housing initiative requires a partnership at a government organizational level that includes a contribution agreement. While many southern municipalities and provinces have such agreements, Nunavut does not have that in place and there is no bureaucratic mechanism to support this.
The fifth recommendation is to require the completion of the work by the National Research Council on the creation of northern building codes. This will ensure that housing stock is built better, more efficiently and requires less O and M.
In response to a recommendation arising from the Senate study on housing throughout Nunavut and throughout Inuit Nunangat, the then minister of CMHC, Jean-Yves Duclos, told the committee in 2016 that the National Research Council was actively working on these standards. However, the building codes have yet to be seen.
In closing, Nunavut is the most unique, most beautiful and largest land mass in Canada. We have our challenges, that is for sure, but our two biggest issues, infrastructure and housing, can easily be fixed with more money. The simple answer is more money.
All of the social problems will take time, money and a lot of work across many different professions. Let's put a roof over our heads by changing to multi-year funding, a better release of funds and more money to give us a fighting chance at change.
Thank you. I will stick around for questions at the end.
Qujannamiik.