Is there an elephant room? B.C.’s First Nations leaders think there is.

Is there an elephant room? B.C.’s First Nations leaders think there is. 

It’s the inability or refusal of community members to pay rent in band-owned housing, reports the Vancouver Sun, because some say free housing is an Aboriginal right, according to reports and interviews.

“There’s confusion around rights and title because Aboriginal people don’t have an Aboriginal right to a home,” said Lawrence Lewis, chief executive officer of the Malahat First Nation on Vancouver Island.

Chiefs and councillors say bands are, as a result, finding it difficult to fund renovations and repairs. They can’t fund new housing projects or pay off the debt required for the social housing they’ve got.

“It is the elephant in the room,” said Garry Merkel, chief executive officer of the Tahltan Nation Development Corp. A report produced by the B.C. Aboriginal Housing Committee estimates that B.C. Nations owe $331 million in arrears.

Shane Gottfriedson, B.C. regional chief, said the challenges are very practical in remote, impoverished communities. The legacy of poor housing management compounds into social issues, said Cheryl Casimer, executive-member of the First Nations Summit.