Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the hon. member who has a very long history of deep concern for the less fortunate in society. As a stay at home mom many years ago I followed his career as minister of the environment and was always a big fan.
The minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shares this member's concern, particularly about the homeless.
The government recognizes the importance of affordable, adequate and suitable housing in promoting the health and well-being of all Canadians. We are working to improve the economic climate in Canada to help promote housing, affordability and accessibility.
We also recognize the value of partnerships among governments, community organizations and the private sector in addressing the problems faced by the homeless.
Because of the complexity of this issue many players must be involved in finding a solution. However, there is currently a lack of understanding and consensus on the best methods to address the needs of Canada's homeless.
Governments and service agencies have asked for better documentation and information sharing on best practices for addressing homelessness. In response, CMHC has undertaken two initiatives. First, it has identified a range of best practices in addressing homelessness from across the country and is currently documenting and evaluating ten of the better ones. Selected projects include a variety of project types, population served and regions of the country.
Second, CMHC is investing in the most effective means of passing on information on these and other best practices to those who need it most.
CMHC undertook consultations with shelter agencies and stakeholders across the country in 1998. As a result the corporation is now planning a series of small focused regional round table discussions to take place in April 1999, followed by a national round table in June. These round tables organized in partnership with local networks for service organizations have the following goals: to bring together key people involved directly with the homeless population; to explore the transfer ability of successful approaches; to provide regional and national round tables for the exchange of information and experience among decision makers; to facilitate new links for the partnership opportunities in the development of solutions.
I am afraid I am out of time. I would be pleased to share the rest of that with the hon. member for Davenport.