Mr. Speaker, last week I had the privilege of speaking to the Habitat for Humanity board of directors, whose members were meeting in Ottawa.
Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty housing. Habitat builds homes for low income families, relying on volunteer labour and donated materials from various sources.
Those who qualify for houses are required to pay a reasonable mortgage and the money they pay goes towards the construction of other houses. They must also help build their own and other Habitat houses. To date, Habitat has constructed more than 22,000 houses in 40 countries of the world.
In Vancouver East, my riding, they say that approximately 8,000 people are without acceptable housing. I am pleased to announce that my riding will be the first in British Columbia to have Habitat houses.
Habitat is truly a humanitarian effort. It is vital that we encourage the initiatives of organizations like Habitat for Humanity.