Thank you.
We've had a lot of conversations about climate change in the last number of years, and we see so many conditions changing. The number of natural disasters, for instance, is increasing, but so is the severity of these incidents. If a forest fire, for example, impacts an indigenous community, it can be the case that communities are wiped out. If there's no housing, what do we do?
We've heard from other chiefs today about situations in their own provinces and generally about what's happening in the country. I think climate change will continue to have a big impact on indigenous communities, particularly northern communities or remote communities, where, once a forest fire gets going, what's the likelihood of losing the entire community? It's highly likely, so, yes, that would be an important consideration, for sure, as Chief Peters says, in the cost of housing.
The remoteness of communities makes building housing even more difficult than it would be where you live or where I live, for example. We're seeing housing costs alone and materials go up by 40% since COVID. These are the numbers that are being shared with me. Of course, Chief Peters also referred to the availability of adequate tradespeople or labour. In a smaller community, that situation becomes even worse.
Yes, we are facing a problem in this country with respect to climate change. Just for the record, my view is we're in for one hell of a summer in this country with forest fires. We're seeing it now in every province; we're going to see it in Newfoundland and Labrador, and, of course, British Columbia and some other places in the country are already at it.
When these communities are lost, it makes it very difficult to put back what was there or to put it back better in a reasonable timeline. Climate change will continue to be a contributing factor in the livelihoods and well-being of some of our communities.
Thank you.