Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of attending earlier this week an event that featured Canada's Minister of State for Social Development releasing the Mental Health Commission of Canada's final report on housing first.
The research shows that the housing first approach rapidly ends homelessness, is a sound investment that can lead to significant cost savings and, more importantly, works over the long term. As of April 1, our government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, began the shift toward housing first in our homelessness partnering strategy.
Despite this evidence, the Liberal Party does not support housing first. The member for Westmount—Ville-Marie has gone so far as to state that housing first will have a “...negative impact on community outreach programs for homeless Canadians...”. Once again, the Liberals show that they are in over their heads by ignoring this evidence-based approach.
On this side of the House, we make no apologies for ensuring that hardworking taxpayer dollars are directed to where they have the largest impact.