Madam Speaker, I move that the 31st report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented to the House on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, be concurred in.
It is indeed an honour to rise in the House today to move concurrence on the report. Why is this important? Why should we be debating this motion?
This report refers to the Auditor General's report on chronic homelessness. It is truly a damning report on the state of the government's actions to address this issue in Canada. Why does this matter? Why does a report such as this matter to Canadians in my riding of Perth—Wellington and in ridings across the country?
It matters because those experiencing homelessness in our community are real people. They are family members, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mums and dads, friends and, in some cases, co-workers. Those experiencing homelessness have been let down by the Liberal government.
I want to provide a bit of local context in my riding of Perth—Wellington. Many members, many colleagues in our official opposition, spent the summer speaking and interacting with local families, stakeholders and municipalities about what they were seeing on the ground in each and every one of our communities.
I had the great pleasure to speak with stakeholders that are making significant efforts to address homelessness and the challenges in our community, such as the United Way of Perth-Huron. I spoke with folks at the local community food centre; I enjoy stopping by because I always feel as though I am walking into a giant kitchen and chatting with people around a giant kitchen table. I spoke to a couple of folks who were there enjoying the community meals; they could not afford the skyrocketing rents that they see in our communities.
Unfortunately, this is happening across the country, not only in large urban centres but also in small-town and rural communities, such as those in Perth—Wellington. Two short years ago, it would have been unthinkable that there would be encampments in such a place as Stratford or Listowel in North Perth. However, here in 2024, after nine years of the government, we see encampments in these small-town, rural communities.
This summer, I was able to speak with family members whose loved ones could not find a place to live, who lacked the supportive housing that was necessary for them to be able to excel and to survive in our communities. I spoke with service providers who talked about the long wait-lists to access the services they provide.
I spoke with those who provide food for those in need, and they are experiencing the challenge. At the same time as demand is up for their services, the ability of those in our community to give is down. It is down because money is tight and because it is a challenge to make ends meet. Unfortunately, there is a lot more month left at the end of the paycheque. That is the challenge we are facing in communities across this country.
I also engage regularly with municipalities that are ready and willing to do their part but, unfortunately, are not finding a partner in the government. I want to give one example, and that is the housing accelerator fund. Not a single community in Perth—Wellington received a cent from the housing accelerator fund, nor did most small-town and rural communities across this country.
One of the reasons for this is that small rural communities, such as the township of Mapleton, were considered large urban municipalities. Small-town, rural and farming communities with populations slightly over 10,000 were being lumped in with large urban municipalities, having to compete for funds against the Mississaugas, the Torontos, the Ottawas and the Hamiltons of the world.
These small-town, rural communities are desperate to do the work necessary to make sure that everyone has a roof over their head, but the challenge is that they are not eligible for these programs, because the government is making it impossible to access funds like large rural municipalities.
Someone else who knows about these challenges is the member from Parry Sound—Muskoka, with whom I will be splitting my time. As the shadow minister for housing, he came to Perth—Wellington this summer and spoke with key stakeholders about the efforts that we can make together to address the challenges of those experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, the Minister of Housing is asleep at the switch and is not putting in the efforts necessary to build the homes, so everyone has a place to call home.
Now that I have given the local context showing why this is important, I want to address the report itself: the Auditor General's fifth report addressing chronic homelessness in Canada. As I said, this is truly a damning report. The Auditor General found this: “Overall, Infrastructure Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation did not know whether their efforts improved housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness and for other vulnerable groups.” The government claimed to be investing, but it has no clue what is happening on the ground.
What is more, the Auditor General went on to say, “the department did not know whether chronic homelessness and homelessness had increased or decreased since 2019 as a result of this investment.” Finally, the report found, “Despite being the lead for the National Housing Strategy and overseeing the majority of its funding, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation took the position that it was not directly accountable for addressing chronic homelessness. Infrastructure Canada was also of the view that while it contributed to reducing chronic homelessness, it was not solely [responsible] for achieving the strategy’s target of reducing chronic homelessness.”
We have federal departments and agencies claiming to be making investments to address the significant challenges of chronic homelessness and those experiencing homelessness in Canada, yet they have no clue what is happening.
In committee, Conservatives pressured the department to give us answers, and it took a second meeting. Finally, the deputy minister of Infrastructure Canada, Kelly Gillis, stated that the department had recently reported a 12% increase in homelessness in Canada. That is an increase for a government claiming that it will cut chronic homelessness in half by 2027. They are already starting with a 12% increase in this year, according to Infrastructure Canada.
However, if we look at the PBO's report from earlier this year, May 22, it states, “Since 2018, the number of homeless people has increased by 20%.” The PBO goes on to write, “the number of chronically homeless people...increased by 38% relative to 2018.” When we ought to see an effort to decrease chronic homelessness, the government has overseen a 38% increase in chronic homelessness since 2018. This is unacceptable to the families and loved ones across this country who are experiencing homelessness and losing hope that they will ever find a place to call home, a place with four walls, a safe place in a safe community.
This is unacceptable. The Auditor General has confirmed this, as has the report from the public accounts committee. Action that the government promised to take has not happened, and that is why we are moving concurrence in this debate today.
