CANADA NEEDS LONG-TERM HOUSING STRATEGY
The NDP caucus welcomes the joint announcement by the federal and territorial governments to invest more money in affordable housing in Yukon, but laments the lack of a national strategy to address the diversity of long-term housing needs, says the party’s housing critic.
"Canada is the only G8 nation that does not have a national housing strategy, and because of that we are facing a critical housing crisis today," Steve Cardiff adds. "The problem with this announcement is that it’s a one-off; it lacks the vision we need to tackle this problem in a systematic and on-going way."
The announcement also neglects both self-governing and non-self-governing Yukon First Nations, where the need for safe and healthy housing is greatest.
"Ottawa provided Yukon First Nations $33 million in 2007 for housing," he says. "If you do the arithmetic, it means they each got about $2.5 million, which is barely enough to build 10 units. If the federal government is really serious about improving housing for First Nations, it needs to begin by committing that amount each year for the next 10 years."
The other problem with this announcement relates to a capacity issue.
"When you set a two-year timeframe to access this funding, it creates a tremendous strain on human resources – both in the public and private sectors – to see so many projects initiated. And because of that, there is a real possibility the Yukon will not be able to access all the funding over this period of time."