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Results: 1 - 15 of 673
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Tansi. Boozhoo. Good morning and hello.
First I want to acknowledge that I'm speaking to you from my office here in Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, in the city of Winnipeg, the homeland of the Métis nation and Treaty 1 territory.
This committee meeting comes at a time when our nation is grieving. The remains of the 215 children buried at the Kamloops Indian residential school sent shockwaves through our country. It has reignited a very important conversation and brought it back to the national consciousness.
I want to be very clear, reconciliation and the lives and well-being of indigenous peoples never stray from my mind. This is my focus and motivation as a minister and member of Parliament.
I am a proud citizen of the Métis Nation. I am honoured to live in and represent the constituency of Saint Boniface–Saint Vital. Louis Riel, who was born in Saint-Boniface and was laid to rest there, was never granted the same privilege that I am being granted. Louis Riel was democratically elected as a member of Parliament for the constituency of Provencher, not on one or two occasions but on three occasions, yet he was never allowed to rightfully take his seat in the House.
The opportunities that I have been granted are some that my ancestors would never have believed possible. I work every day with this knowledge; it drives and motivates my work.
As Minister of Northern Affairs, I strive to listen to northerners to ensure that their needs and priorities drive my department's work. A year and a half ago, when I was appointed minister, I stated that decisions for the north would no longer be made in Ottawa boardrooms. My team and I remain committed to that vision. We work for the north and with the north. That's why the Arctic and northern policy framework is so important to our combined work together.
The investments my department is seeking through supplementary estimates (A) are driven by this approach, focusing on the responses to COVID-19, as well as housing and infrastructure needs. The pandemic has highlighted what people have known for far too long, which is that indigenous peoples and northern communities have been underserved. Further, we have recently been reminded of the consequences of colonialism for indigenous peoples and communities.
We know that in Canada's north, food prices can be significantly higher than in the rest of Canada. Additional factors, such as geographic isolation, make northerners particularly at risk for food insecurity. This vulnerability has only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, our government provided an additional $25 million to Nutrition North Canada to increase subsidy rates on nutritious food and essential hygiene items. Our government also introduced the harvesters support grant, which was co-developed with Inuit partners to help with costs related to hunting and harvesting, and to create greater access to traditional country foods. Building on this, and to address the ongoing concerns, the estimates in front of you provide $20 million in funding to maintain Nutrition North Canada measures introduced in April 2020.
These supplementary estimates also provide $50 million in 2021-22 for the Governments of Northwest Territories and Nunavut. There is $25 million each to respond to their short-term critical housing needs. I view these as down payments on the housing situation in the north. The need is clear and we are committed to closing the unacceptable gap that exists in the north. These amounts are intended to address immediate and pressing housing needs this year.
We recognize that more investment is required. From budget 2021, northerners will also benefit from the $2.5 billion in new funding through the national housing strategy, delivered by CMHC across Canada, and the $4.3 billion in new funding in distinctions-based indigenous infrastructure, which can include housing.
Mr. Chair, as I stated before, reconciliation is always at the forefront of my mind as minister. I'm working toward a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples, including through the Inuit-Crown partnership committee, that respects constitutionally guaranteed rights and is based on collaboration and co-operation.
I want to thank you again for this opportunity to meet with you virtually today.
I welcome your questions.
Thank you. Meegwetch.
View Eric Melillo Profile
CPC (ON)
View Eric Melillo Profile
2021-06-10 11:48
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the ministers for joining us.
Today I will direct my questions to Minister Vandal. Minister, it's nice to see you again, and I hope you're doing well.
You spoke about quite a few topics in your remarks. I hope to get to them all. One of the big ones we've been talking and seeing a lot about in recent reports is housing in the north. We know there are housing shortages and housing issues with mould, disrepair and overcrowding across the territories and northern Canada. In particular, Nunavut especially has many challenges, and I do know that the government has allocated funding towards this. You spoke about that in your remarks.
Closing the gap is also something you say a lot, and the gap still remains quite large, even with this funding. It seems to me that a lot of the bureaucracies that have been created are not really getting the funds they need to go to build these units in some cases. As well, your government's anti-development approach to many projects, I believe, has also made no real incentives for developers to do their work and build new units.
I'm wondering if you can comment on that. Given that your government has spent so much money, as you like to talk about all the time, the results for people across the north...the job is just not getting done right now.
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Thank you for that very important question on housing in the north and in Nunavut.
You're absolutely right. The gap is huge, and the gap was made even larger when, before 2015, 10 years of complete non-funding by the previous government only exacerbated an already bad situation—
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Since being elected in 2015, through our $70-billion national housing strategy, our government has helped over 9,000 northern families on housing issues, including finding homes for thousands of them. We've signed 10-year housing agreements with all three territorial governments—agreements that were non-existent before—who will invest close to $800 million over those 10 years.
We've signed a $400-million housing agreement with Inuit rights holders, who will invest in housing in Inuit Nunangat. In the last budget, 2021, we're—
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Since 2015, we've helped 9,000 northern families on issues concerning housing, including several thousand new units.
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
View Eric Melillo Profile
CPC (ON)
View Eric Melillo Profile
2021-06-10 11:51
Okay. By your estimates from the department's work, how many units would you say are still needed?
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Listen, the gap in northern housing is huge due to chronic underfunding by previous governments, and I'll be fair—
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
—that is including some of our previous Liberal governments, but mostly there was zero funding under the previous tenure of the Harper government, but I will admit—
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