Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London for raising concern about the money for affordable housing being delayed getting out the door.
A man who goes by the name of Elvis lives in my riding. Elvis is an alcoholic. For years Elvis would get intoxicated to the point where the community would have to call for an ambulance to take him to the hospital or he would have run-ins with the law, which cost the criminal justice system money. This literally cost us thousands of dollars a day and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to provincial, federal, and municipal governments. The Port Alberni Shelter Society has secured a unit for Elvis. For five years Elvis has been living in this shelter for $500 a month, or $6,000 a year. He is provided with a home, but it saves taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In this budget, the government has announced over $10 billion in money for housing, but only $20 million of that will get out the door this year. That is about 20 houses in Toronto and Vancouver. That is not going to do a lot for people in rural communities.
Maybe the member could talk about the cost savings in ensuring that people who need help have roofs over their heads and about those single parents who might even make the worst decision and who do not have a home.