Thank you.
The majority of Canadians have truly enviable living conditions. In Canada, we have the best human rights models as regards civil and political rights. Yet, even in 2017, economic and social rights are truly secondary. They are not protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or by any statute in Canada, and this includes the right to adequate housing. It is truly time for this to change and for the right to adequate housing to be accorded greater statutory if not constitutional protection.
Today, I would like to briefly address the issue of women and housing. The point I wish to stress is that access to adequate, safe, and stable housing is necessary for the growth and development of every Canadian woman, and for the advancement of the status of women. The fact is that 50% of women in Canada are renters. Two out of five of them spend more than 30% of their income on rent, which is staggering in a country as highly developed as Canada. Moreover, increasing access to housing will above all require increasing the number of social housing units right across Canada.
Given that women are more economically vulnerable, in particular as a result of the major cuts to provincial social assistance programs; given that the current shortage of decent and affordable housing is primarily due to gentrification—which reduces the number of housing units available—and above all the fact that, since the 2000s, the growth in the rental market in Canada has primarily been the result of the construction of high-end condos and not affordable housing for the people who need it; given the widespread discrimination in housing against single women with children, aboriginal women, and women on social assistance; given that these three factors often create obstacles that are in some cases insurmountable for women wishing to escape domestic violence, especially immigrant women who have a much more limited social safety net; given that these obstacles leave many women with no other choice than to return to or live in violent environments; given that otherwise, women are often left without adequate housing for themselves and their children; given the increase in the number of homeless women, especially among immigrants, aboriginal women and seniors, who often cannot afford to pay for housing; and finally, given that nearly 95% of women's housing agencies have in recent years been forced to turn away women due to lack of availability; I maintain that we need to establish a national housing strategy that addresses the specific challenges facing women, including gender-based analysis, and that responds to the urgent need to increase social housing for Canadian men and women.
Thank you.