Human Resources committee  This demand has been made throughout Canada for several years now. In 1993, before the cutbacks were made, the government opted out of this sector entirely. The housing budget represented 1.3% of total government spending at the federal level. At that time, the UN told us that this was not enough and that we needed to increase the amount.

Human Resources committee  I am not sure that I understood the question properly. Someone said earlier that workers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep poverty at bay. Some individuals who used to have decent jobs no longer are able to make ends meet. The problem is less evident in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada, but even in Quebec, we now see more and more working people who have to rely on food banks despite being employed.

Human Resources committee  The employment insurance program must be reviewed in order to increase accessibility, so that any unemployed person would have the right to an adequate benefit level. This means that we must make a massive investment in social housing. When I say “massive”, I am in fact asking for another $2 billion per year for the building of social housing.

Human Resources committee  Good afternoon. I'd like to begin with a very brief introduction of FRAPRU. We are a Quebec umbrella group of 130 organizations that advocate for housing, the homeless, and more broadly take part in the fight against poverty and for social rights. From the mid-1990s, Canada, as you know, experienced a very long period of economic growth, a very long period of enormous budgetary surpluses, and in some years they were absolutely colossal.

Finance committee  Indeed, we want the federal government, which is the one that has the most resources in Canada, to continue contributing to social housing. That's something that's a provincial jurisdiction, in that the programs that make it possible for housing to be produced must be designed by the provinces and reflect their own situation.

Finance committee  It's very clear that the $2 billion includes the amounts... The $800 million amount that was announced isn't a recurring amount. What we want is a recurring budget. Obviously, in the first years, we can include this $800 million amount. That's not a problem for us. Our main message is that Canada is currently paying about $2 billion for housing, essentially to pay for housing built in the past.

Finance committee  In broad terms, the Réseau Solidarité Itinérance du Québec represents the homeless, whereas we work more with people who are poorly housed, people who have housing, who aren't completely homeless, but who have major housing problems. It's easy shift from one to the other.

Finance committee  Good afternoon. I would like to introduce Nicolas Lefebvre Legault, Chairman of FRAPRU's board of directors, who works in Quebec City. The name “Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain” probably doesn't mean much to people from outside Quebec. It's essentially a cross-Quebec association of groups that advocate housing rights.