Statement made on 02 December 2008 by Seantor Catherine Callbeck
Hon. Catherine S. Callbeck:
Honourable senators, there are critical challenges in this country with regard to housing, especially for low-income Canadians. All provinces are finding it difficult to provide healthy, affordable homes to those most in need. My home province of Prince Edward Island is no exception.
While Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has programs for emergency and general repairs, they are not receiving adequate funding. The Homeowner Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program, or RRAP, on Prince Edward Island currently has a waiting list of six to seven years. The Emergency Repair Program has a waiting list of two years.
Imagine waiting two years for help in an emergency. The roof is falling in, the furnace does not work, and the electrical system is old, faulty, and a fire hazard. How can it be called an emergency program if a person has to wait two years for help?
The situation for low-income Canadians is urgent. This government was in office more than two years before the minister responsible for housing met with his provincial and territorial counterparts in April 2008. In the end, the press release stated that the ministers:
. . . expressed their great disappointment that Minister Solberg is not able to provide a firm response to any of the issues they raised.
The federal minister has not met with them since.
During the election campaign, the outgoing minister announced that the renovation programs of the CMHC would be renewed for five years. They committed $218 million over those five years, which means there will be no increase in funding for any of these programs. Funding will only maintain the status quo, leaving more low-income Canadians with more of the same.
In my province, people will have the same wait time of two years in times of emergency, when they need help the most. Government will wait the same three years to assist persons with disabilities to live comfortably in their own homes. Government will wait the same seven years for general repairs that would allow low-income Canadians to live in a safe and healthy environment.
Without additional funding, these wait times will not get any smaller. On the contrary, in these uncertain economic times, Canadians will require the support of the federal government even more than before. It is simply not acceptable that low-income Canadians will be left without the assistance they so desperately need.