Madam Speaker, it is not very often in the House that we actually have a debate about the need for housing. I thank the hon. member from the Conservative Party for bringing forward this motion so that at least there is some discussion in the House of Commons about what really is a most fundamental and important aspect of people's daily lives, the right to adequate, safe, affordable shelter and housing in Canada.
Like my colleague from the NDP for Yukon, I believe housing is a fundamental human right. If there is no adequate safe housing there is very little else in life that can be dealt with because it is such a fundamental issue.
I have listened to other members speaking on this motion and actually have been very interested, quite surprised and dismayed to hear the government member talk about how the government has shown such leadership on this issue. If there is such leadership on the question of housing then why is it that the federal government abandoned social housing in 1993?
In my province of British Columbia if the federal government were still continuing with its program of funding and developing social housing, we would have another 8,000 units built since 1993. In my riding of Vancouver East there are numerous very well built, very well managed, very good local neighbourhood projects that are social housing projects and co-operative housing projects. I do not think we can place a financial value on the kind of stability those housing projects and co-ops have produced in a local context. Housing co-ops and social housing generally do help provide great stability in local communities.
In my riding of Vancouver East, particularly in a neighbourhood like the downtown east side where there are still 6,000 people living in substandard slum housing, in single occupant rooms, the fact that the federal government has refused to fund social housing, has refused to provide funds for co-operative housing of which we have many in my riding of Vancouver East, is really another indication of the failure of the government to address the real priorities and the real needs ordinary Canadians have in terms of housing.
In B.C. alone there are something like 20,000 on waiting lists for social housing. B.C. is one of only two provincial governments left providing social housing, but we could do a lot better if the federal government were still a financial and committed partner to the provision of co-operative housing.
The devolution of housing has had a devastating impact for people who live in poverty and has contributed to the growing inequality we see in Canada, the growing gap between the rich and poor.
The federal government is devolving housing to the provinces and what has been very interesting is that the co-operative housing movement has shown a lot of initiative in coming forward and saying to the federal and provincial governments it wants to be involved in self-management and in the administration and maintenance of co-operative housing projects.
It has been very disappointing to see the lack of response from the federal government to this very positive initiative that is financially sound, socially responsible and will ensure local accountability, local management and a sense of national standards and guidelines, something that has really been lacking since the federal government has devolved housing to the provinces. We want to call on the government today to be very clear that if it means what it says about showing leadership in this area it should be clear with the provinces that the federal government is willing to negotiate an option with provincial governments which will allow the CHF to bring forward the proposal that it has and to provide for the management of co-operative housing. This is something that has a lot of support in my province of British Columbia, which our provincial government is seriously considering and is willing to look at. But we need the federal government to be part of that negotiation and to say that it is committed to allowing this initiative from the CHF to be successful.
I have already received many messages and cards from my constituents who are fortunate to live in co-op housing and who are writing to me as their local MP to say they support the co-op sector's proposal for a non-profit agency to administer co-op housing. I have had cards, for example, from the Paloma co-op in my riding. A member of that co-op wrote “I love my co-op because as a middle-aged woman living alone I feel safe and secure and can go to university and get a degree and improve my employment”. That is as a result of having a stable, secure, neighbourly, protected housing environment which has come about as a result of living in a housing co-op.
I would like to encourage the government to review its position and to demonstrate an understanding that housing is a human right. I believe that the government has to review its abandonment of social housing. It has to go back and renegotiate with the provinces to find a way to ensure that there is provincial involvement but, critically, federal involvement to ensure there is further development in social housing and co-operative housing in Canada.
There is no question that co-op housing in this country has been a Canadian success story. But that success story has now partially been dashed by the abandonment of the federal government in the devolution of co-op housing.
We are glad to have this debate today. We need to have more debates on co-op housing and social housing. I want to say to the government that in my riding of Vancouver East we have a desperate need for more co-ops. We have a desperate need for more social housing. We have people who are one step away from homelessness. We have people who are living on the streets because the federal government has abandoned its role in social housing.
I want to call on the government today to reaffirm its commitment to house people, to provide the funds, to negotiate with the provinces and to say yes to the proposal from the Co-op Housing Federation to ensure that the option that it has brought forward is something that can actually be realized.