Frustrated First Nations chiefs pushed for better housing conditions before a parliamentary committee today.
The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples is hearing from housing officials and reserve residents about what can be done to fix the situation.
Glen Hudson heads up the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba.
Hudson says 80% of his community is on a waiting list for mortgages, and many don’t qualify for the First Nations Market Housing fund.
He says his community is struggling with infrastructure challenges and the situation is even worse for bands north of his own:
“They had a chlorinated water system throughout their community, but the budget that was allocated and provided by the federal government only allowed them to purchase enough chlorine for half a year. And the other half a year, because of their location and remoteness and being able to truck things to the north, they went without treated water for the remaining half a year.”
Hudson says the federal money that’s budgeted for water systems is simply not enough.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo told the committee that over the next five years, federal subsidies for social housing units on-reserve are due to expire — with a lot fewer agreements in the works to replace them.
Atleo pointed out that overcrowding on many reserves is expected to get worse and that’s why action is required.
Seven years ago, the government rolled out a home ownership program designed to get more reserve residents owning their own home, but Atleo says that hasn’t worked out very well:
“The federal government’s investment of $300 million in 2007 for the First Nations Market Housing Fund has only generated a total of 55 housing loans on First Nations.”
Atleo says it’s results like this that show government-imposed programs aren’t the solution.
Rather, he thinks the government should get together with First Nations and get on the same page with them when it comes to identifying how many houses are needed, and how they want to get there.