Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to table a petition from the Inuit community of Puvirnituk, in Nunavik.
The petitioners state that there have been no housing starts by either federal or provincial governments in Nunavik in the past three years. At the present time, there are 16 to 20 people in three bedroom dwellings.
The Inuit find the housing conditions at Nunavik extremely distressing. They consider the situation totally intolerable. It contributes to the high incidence of tuberculosis, infectious diseases and social problems.
The federal government must assume its obligations under the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement as far as housing is concerned. At the end of October 1998, there was a shortage of 425 houses in Nunavik.