Mr. Speaker, we know that the Liberals are all about the rapid housing initiative with a billion dollars in the first round. There were subscriptions of $5 billion in applications, yet only 20% were funded.
One of the applications came from my riding in Port Alberni to buy the old Beaufort hotel, and it was supported by the Salvation Army, the Bread of Life, KUU-US Crisis Line, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Lookout. ESDC said that this was a great application supported by the city, our local MLA and the local Tseshaht Nation. It was filling a gap that the province of B.C. identified for the hardest to house. The parole board even wrote a letter of support. It said it had no housing for inmates when they were released. In fact, 98% of those inmates were indigenous. As well, it was identified that two-thirds of the people in our local homeless count are indigenous.
They applied again. They were just told that they were denied. More people are going to be dying on the streets of this country. We are spending over $75 billion on buying fighter jets and we are putting $1 billion toward homelessness. This is shameful.
My colleague made a commitment. Is the commitment there that he is going to help get this deal done, because we will lose this property and this opportunity by April 1. I hope he will live up to his words and his commitment.