Mr. Speaker, as winter approaches, the situation for the homeless in my communities of New Westminster, Port Moody and Coquitlam worsens. In New Westminster alone, the number of my constituents who are homeless has risen an incredible 33% in recent years. Not only is it unacceptable, it is disgraceful that people are sleeping on the streets in my riding or on the banks of the Fraser River or underneath the SkyTrain overpass.
There are some wonderful organizations, including the Tri-Cities Housing Coalition, Hope for Freedom Society and the New Westminster Homeless Coalition, that work so hard for affordable housing and for the homeless, but without action from the government they can only do so much.
Because the government fails to support housing projects, many organizations will have to scale back or shut down, maybe even before Christmas, as their funds run out.
When will the government enact a national housing strategy so that no Canadian has no other choice but to sleep on the streets?