Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is concerned about the growing number of homeless people in communities across the country, the increasing number of children, youth and families struggling to survive day to day.
Municipalities across Canada have produced countless reports that identify problems, that articulate the root causes and seek solutions. Municipalities are concerned. In addition, community groups from across the country are coming together to discuss their approaches and share successes.
Earlier this year the Prime Minister asked the Minister of Labour to co-ordinate the activities of the Government of Canada related to homelessness, to bring together the information from these reports and to tabulate the documentation received from community groups.
Communities, municipalities and provinces have an important contribution to make and must understand that they need to be prepared to share in the responsibility for addressing the issue. We all need to be part of the solution.
The Minister of Labour spent the summer travelling to over 20 communities from Vancouver to Halifax and spoke directly to Canadians who are homeless, to Canadians who work and volunteer their time to help the homeless, to businesses that are concerned, and to mayors and councils that are committed to eliminating homelessness in their communities. The minister is compiling what she heard from the communities and from the many reports that have been prepared by the municipalities. She will be the voice for those recommendations in Ottawa.
Over the past few months we have made progress. The Minister of Public Works and Government Services was able to augment the $300 million over five year RRAP program by $50 million, some of which was targeted directly to homeless shelters.
The Minister of Human Resources Development has identified funds under her department to address the needs of the homeless and to work toward eradicating the root causes and leading to prevention.
The network of federal facilities in cities across Canada will initiate and co-ordinate a partnership process with provincial and municipal governments as well as with the voluntary and private sectors.
We recognize that the bottom line comes to partnership. Homelessness must be a priority for all levels of government working in partnership with the private and non-profit sectors.