Housing dismal for First Nations

Page R3

If you're one of the thousands of Crees on waiting for subsidized housing, the news isn't good. At the current rate of housing construction, it will take until the year 2009 before every Eastern James Bay Cree who needs a new home right now get one. And that's not counting the fact that another 75 families are added to the waiting list for subsidized housing each year.

"At that rate, we'll never catch up," said Brian Craik, responsible for housing issues at the Grand Council of the Crees.

Craik said the problem may get worse before it gets any better. Funding from Ottawa for on-reserve housing has fallen by a third in the last decade. All eyes are now on the new Liberal government, which is set to announce a new housing policy in the next few months. It's likely there will be new cuts, said Craik.

"The government wants something new, but no one knows what it is," said Craik. He fears that in the name of attacking a runaway deficit the Liberals may carry out a Tory threat to make dramatic new cuts to the First Nations housing budget.

Before being voted out of office in October the Tories were sitting on a plan to drastically reduce the amount of money given to First Nations homebuyers in the form of grants, and replace this with loans to be paid back with interest.

Al Horner, director of Indian programming and funding allocation in the federal Indian Affairs department, wouldn't give any hints about the new housing policy. But even he acknowledged that the government isn't doing nearly enough.

"Between the need to properly maintain homes and the fact that there is a fairly healthy backlog, the current rate of government expenditures would not in itself meet the demand," Horner said. "That's a well-known situation that is one of the first issues the chiefs raise when I meet with them."

Horner's department spends $137 million each year for on-reserve housing, an amount that has remained frozen for a decade. During that time, inflation has eaten up a third of the value of the spending.

The federal government doesn't have figures on the total number of First Nations people on waiting lists for subsidized housing across the country. Separate lists are compiled by each First Nation. Craik said 1,200 new houses are needed in the Eastern James Bay Cree communities alone. Last year, only 75 new houses were built for Crees with federal funds. At that rate, the existing housing backlog won't be cleared up for 15 years, he estimated.

Craik express frustration with the haphazard way the federal government allocates housing funds. He said it's often unclear until the last moment how much money is available for housing, which makes planning difficult for Cree band councils.

Craik said stable funding would help Crees establish a joint housing policy for all communities. Currently, housing is the responsibility of each of the band councils. Such a policy could ensure that housing money goes to those people who need it the most, Craik said. A housing policy could also include rules barring preferential treatment in the allocation of housing.

Another problem that needs to be addressed is the wide disparity in how much contractors charge for construction of a house in different communities, Craik said. The average new house in Chisasibi costs about $160,000 to build. One in Mistissini costs only $100 - 110,000, whereas one in Waswanipi costs less than $100,000.