The legacy of inadequate housing

Page 9

Aboriginal politicians, Elders and people with experience in the building trades all say that inadequate housing is at the root of many, perhaps even most, of the social, economic and health problems that plague First Nation communities.

But politics of all kinds have complicated the housing issue, even though most people would agree that it's too important a matter with which to play games.

Housing issues were highlighted in the Assembly of First Nations Getting Results Agenda. The AFN requested that "the federal government support our work in developing a strategy for creating a self-sustaining housing system on our lands."

In the AFN's pre-budget submission (PBS) to the Department of Finance, an entire chapter was dedicated to housing.

"First Nation citizens have consistently identified addressing the shortage of quality housing as a top priority. There is currently a shortage of 8,500 units and 44 per cent of existing houses on our lands require renovations. Given the current rate of construction and our growing population, this housing shortage will widen over the medium-term," the submission stated. "Inadequate housing is contributing to many social and economic problems. The lack of quality housing contributes to social problems such as child poverty, suicide, low educational attainment, alcoholism, and family breakdowns."

National Chief Phil Fontaine's plan called for taking steps to create housing markets on First Nation lands that will improve the ability of First Nation citizens to buy and sell homes. That would require the creation or expansion of innovative programs that would provide access to cash loans.

The PBS stated that such a move would "provide qualified owners with a larger stake in home maintenance and community improvement" and "create the institutional means to impart home maintenance skills; and improve the First Nations' institutional capacity for delivering aspects of home and community maintenance."

Fontaine told finance officials that local and national institutions would need to be created in order to improve the dismal housing situation on reserve.

He also said that an expenditure of $600 million over the next three years would "lead to 3,000 more homes being built and 3,000 additional homes being renovated..."

To see the state of First Nation housing first-hand, Windspeaker traveled to the Siksika First Nation in southern Alberta earlier this year. We visited more than a dozen homes and spoke to several dozen people.

Several of the people we spoke to would not let us use their names. In First Nations across the country, we are told that councils arbitrarily add and delete names to the waiting list for housing. Cause trouble and lose your spot, they say.

We saw homes in serious disrepair. Some were poorly insulated. Many were infested with mould. In a part of the country where temperatures drop to minus 30 and below for long stretches every winter and where strong winds blow unchecked across the bald prairie, we saw homes where there were substantial spaces between the doors and the frames they were hung on. The housing department had affected repairs to some of these homes using duct tape. In just about every home, mouse traps or mouse droppings could be seen.

Several people did speak on the record, however, and they had little good to say about their council or housing department. These complaints came from a community where the chief says housing is at or near the top of the list of council's concerns.

"Housing is one of my priorities," Chief Adrian Stimson told Windspeaker. "Last year we built around 50 houses and we could use more, but we're always short of money."

Harry Good Eagle's home on the Eastern end of the sprawling reserve (the second largest in the country in terms of land mass) was flooded out during a February thaw in 2002. His basement literally filled with water. The home was ruined. Coming up on two years later, he is still living off the reserve.

ood Eagle claims he has been effectively banished, that council is in no hurry to get him a new home. His problem may have started with a conviction for sexual assault several years ago. He did the time, but claims he didn't commit the crime. His wife backs him up, saying she and the children stayed with him because they don't believe he did it. But he admits that the conviction may be a factor in his not getting much response to his demands for a house on the reserve.

"If they want to banish me, the least they can do is look me in the eye while they're doing it. I knew my criminal record was not going to shine," he said.

But, he adds, the government should not be able to pick and choose whom it serves.

That's a common complaint. The lack of separation between the politicians and the public service in First Nation governments, caused in no small part by the absence of funds that would pay for the institutions of modern governance, is always a possibility. It is a matter of speculation just how often abuses occur. Critics say it happens a lot; supporters of chief and councils say it doesn't happen nearly as much as some would think.

Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault was asked about housing issues during a conference call with Aboriginal reporters on Nov. 12. He said the First Nations Land Management Act addresses many of the complaints of politicization of housing.

"[The act]... puts in place the policies which would create arm's length authorities that would not be influenced by politicians and would have the ability to generate the kind of financial resources to build the houses, to maintain them, and to, of course, have private ownership," he said. "That's the position that the government takes. If you don't have these modern tools, these checks and balances of governance, you will continue to have housing being used as a political tool and a political football in First Nations, which is one of the problems we face and one of the reasons why we don't thin that this file has moved as quickly as it should."

Unlike pundits in the right-wing press, the Indian Affairs minister doesn't believe private land ownership is the only answer to the housing problem.

"I don't believe that the fact that First Nation property are lands that are held in common or held in trust by the Crown for First Nation citizens is an impediment to creating private housing and private ownership on reserve. That is not the case and, in fact, there are many First Nations, including Six Nations (in Ontario), where there is private ownership that exists. There are many certificates of possession out West where individuals own their own housing. And so, I think that does exist," he said.

Nault said the future will see less federal responsibility for housing.

"First Nations have to take more responsibility and control over the housing stock and not expect the government of Canada to be the total funder of housing because that is not the position of the government nor do I believe it will be in the future," he said.

You'd have to ignore, or conveniently forget, an awful lot of history to let that statement pass without objection. First Nations people they were pushed off their land, given the least productive real estate and legally prevented-via the pass system that confined them to the reserves and prevented them from competing for jobs in town with non-Native people-from building an economy. The resources beneath their land have enriched the very people who complain the loudest about "money spent on Indians," some would add.

Anne McMaster is president of an Elders' circle at Siksika. The former long-term band councillor told Windspeaker that her group was unaffiliated with council. She says the government is far from finished addressing the abuses of the past and shouldn't be so quick to devolve its responsibilities.

"We don't really control ourselves. Indian Affairs still does," McMaster said. "We were never taught to do budgeting, planning. ndian Affairs did that for us. Now they expect us, out of the blue, to do it all."

She said the boom times in Calgary, the closest major city, have been hard on Siksika members. When people leave the reserve to find work or go to school, they're faced with inflated rents or high mortgage costs. Many are moving back to Siksika and adding to the reserve's housing problems.

And McMaster said that school buildings often have the same problems as homes.

"Our schools need to be renovated with additions rather than trailers with mould in them," she said. "Housing is problem number one, though. We need houses galore but the workmanship is so poor."

Al Isfeld has spent 23 years dealing with housing and construction issues. He knows exactly what the Elder is talking about. The Waywayseecappo (Manitoba) First Nation member lives in Winnipeg. He spent five years as a housing inspector for the City of Winnipeg and has been involved in building homes and public buildings on his home territory.

Government paternalism has served the federal purpose well for more than a century. If the government wants to end that approach, it needs to deal with the harm it has done first, and not complain about the cost, Isfeld said.

"In our situation as Aboriginal people, they've made that very clear in their paternalistic attitudes towards us in everything that they deal with," he said. "So if they do not provide the education or the training to us as people and all they do is throw something out there and say, 'Here. This is brand new. Move in.' To us, it's just a place to stay because it's over-crowded and the quality of the materials is a little cheaper because the government is cutting corners. And then it wears down quicker and they say, 'Well, it's the tenant.'"

Isfeld says the government has created the housing problem over many years. To ask First Nations to now take the bulk of the responsibility is completely unreasonable, he said.

"City regulations could force landlords to do