Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share our point of view on the Auditor General's report on housing in first nations communities.
It's no surprise that we read in the Auditor General's report that the housing problem in first nations communities persists, despite what has been raised in various reports for over 20 years and even though housing is a basic, fundamental human right. The first message at the very beginning of the report repeats exactly what we have been conveying for a long time: Improving housing for first nations is vital for their physical, mental and economic well-being. That's because housing plays a fundamental role in any society. I'm a firm believer that it's pretty hard for me, as a chief, to address the social ills of my community members when everybody's worried about having a roof over their head.
The housing crisis in first nations communities in Quebec and Labrador has been well documented for nearly 25 years. We have reliable data that indicates, among other things, that 10,000 housing units should be added to our housing stock of 15,000 over a five-year period to make up for the accumulated backlog, particularly due to overcrowding, population growth, migration of members who potentially want to live in their community, and the replacement of condemned units. Our figures also indicate that 8,000 housing units require renovation or repairs.
The analyses, carried out over a long period of time, indicate that when the federal government invests in first nations housing beyond its regular budgets, the effect is felt well in our communities. Of course, as needs continue to grow, the increase is growing at a slower pace. This leads me to link with recommendation 2.26 of the Auditor General's report, which reads as follows:
Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in collaboration with First Nations, should develop and implement a strategy to close the housing gap by 2030 that outlines how they will coordinate their efforts, identifies needs and required funding, and establishes measurable targets for tracking progress.
We believe that first nations can play an important role in closing the housing gap, not only in the development of a strategy but also in the financial framework that results from it. For example, we know that there is a continuation of needs in the community that goes from shelters to social housing to private home ownership. Private housing is precisely a model that a larger proportion of our members could certainly opt for if the opportunities were present. There is a potential in this area that deserves to be further developed. First nations and their financial institutions could then play a significant role in eliminating the housing gap. Yänonhchia' Indigenous Housing Finance Network is one of those opportunities and is a part of the solution.
For this, we need the commitment of our partners to strengthen the capacities, to take direction and to help us secure capital. There are good practices in this area. We have piloted and have been delivering this initiative to Quebec first nations for years. We know that there is a need for this nationally. The NACCA network and the indigenous financial institutions are the right vehicles to help address this issue.
Precisely on the question of capacities, recommendation 2.46 of the Auditor General's report fits perfectly with our regional strategy. Strengthening skills and capacities is a crucial aspect of any action plan aimed at obtaining better housing results in our communities, because they often have to deal with complex situations of great need, which are increasing in the context of continued underfunding.
Recommendation 2.60 of the report refers to ISC's transfer initiative. You know the housing situation in first nations communities. The report is very revealing on this subject. Yes, we want more governance by first nations in housing, but not at any cost.
Current conditions—notably, the accumulated backlog and the programs as designed—are not favourable to a transfer of responsibilities. There are prerequisites that must be met for first nations to embrace and thrive under such a change. Any reform, modernization and transfer initiative must be accompanied by upstream funding that is sufficient, predictable and recurring, not based solely on current funding envelopes.
Thank you for the invitation and for listening to me. I'd be happy to answer any questions following the other presenters' presentations.
Meegwetch.