Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to follow the hon. member from Dartmouth. If everyone in this country was listening to every word she said they would know that she is absolutely right when it comes to an unnatural homelessness disaster in this country.
Unfortunately, Bill C-66 is again legislation that came from the south end of a northbound cow. It just does not make any sense that the government can tinker around and pretend to give the people of Canada the perception that it is going to do something about homelessness in this country.
One would assume that the citizens of this country have a right to accessible, affordable housing, to look after their families, to live in communities that are safe. The government does absolutely nothing for them. It downloads, it skirts the issues, it runs away, it hides. The government never tackles the serious issue of homelessness.
If people need an example of the crisis in this country they could look to Toronto, which is our largest city. It is a magnet for many tourists from around the world. When they come here they think “Canada is great. This is nice. We can walk on the streets”. I was in Toronto yesterday and in two downtown blocks we counted 42 people who were on the streets, begging, lying in sleeping bags and sitting on cardboard boxes. These people have no place to go because the federal government with its provincial counterpart in Ontario have completely ignored them and have concentrated on tax cuts for the rich.
In Ontario an election has been called. Is the provincial government pursuing the matter? Did Mr. Harris, the premier of Ontario, stand today with his colleagues in the Tory party to fight for homeless people? Will the election be based on poverty issues and environmental issues? No. The issue will be based on trouble with the sports franchises. They are going to try to keep millionaire businessmen and players in Canada. There was not one word in the provincial budget which addressed poverty and homelessness in our major city of Toronto. Toronto is a microcosm of what is happening right across the country.
As the hon. member for Dartmouth well knows, in Nova Scotia there are a lot of people who were seriously affected by the downturn of the fishery.
Mr. Speaker, let me state this quite simply so that everybody in the country understands. You and I, because of our incomes, live in a fairly comfortable home that we can pay for. A lot of these people live in mobile parks and mobile trailers. There is nothing wrong with living in those nice mini-homes. Unfortunately, if you or I lose our house, with our income we can afford to buy a mobile home which is traditionally of a lower value than a three bedroom duplex. The people in Canso, in Bonavista, Newfoundland and up in Arichat, Nova Scotia are losing their mobile homes. That is a crisis. Where do they go?
Mr. Speaker, you are an honourable gentleman, as everybody in the House is honourable, but what are we doing in the House of Commons as legislators if we cannot protect the most vulnerable of our society?
It is not that much to ask for 1% of the budget over the next few years totalling $2 billion to put back into social housing. We ignore the plight of some of the most vulnerable people in our society: our aboriginal first nations people, our seniors, our children, and those with mental and physical deficiencies. The province of Ontario and its Tory government and the federal Liberal government together concentrate on tax cuts for the rich and how we can make them richer.
In the recent federal budget announced by the Minister of Finance the average tax cut for the middle income earner was about $325, whereas the average tax cut for a person making $3 million to $4 million totals $38,000. If the government can put that much effort into looking after its corporate and wealthy friends, I ask it to put at least half that effort into looking after the most vulnerable in society.
Unfortunately the bill does not do that. It does not even come close. The New Democratic Party is asking the government to go over the bill again. If government members want to know how to do it, they should come to Vancouver East and sit down with the member of the New Democratic Party who represents that area. She will tell them exactly what they should do to prevent the unnatural disaster of homelessness.
That is all they have to do. They do not need more studies. They do not have to throw more money after reports. All they have to do for one hour is sit down with the member for Vancouver East and she will tell them exactly how to do it. With wonderful advice from her they will be able to solve the problem of homelessness from coast to coast to coast.
It is a shame that in 1999 we are standing in the House of Commons to discuss this very serious issue. In 1989 the leader of the New Democratic Party, Mr. Ed Broadbent, moved an all party resolution to end child poverty in the country. Now, 10 years later, child poverty has increased four times. It is absolutely unbelievable that the Tories and Liberals of that period ignored the very serious motion and recommendation brought forward by Mr. Ed Broadbent.
Now we are discussing the homelessness issue, an issue that is not discussed often enough in the House. If members of parliament want to know what it is like to be homeless, they should leave their credit cards and wallets at home and live on the streets of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or Halifax in January. They should do it for a month if they have the guts to do it. That is what thousands of people go through every day.
I plead with the government, I beg the government, I deplore the government to pay serious attention to the plight of those people. It should look after social housing from coast to coast to coast. It should not download its responsibility on to the provinces again, which is exactly what it plans to do.
I beg the government to put 1% of future budgets totalling $2 billion back into social housing. That will also create jobs in communities which badly need them. As the member for Dartmouth said, it needs to be community based and non-profit. If these people are given the tools to work with, they will be able to look after themselves.
I hope my comments today have resonance with the Liberals, and I hope they make the right decision when final decisions are being made.