Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. As
I
talked about the other day in the Minister’s
opening comments of this department, I feel that people living with disabilities are extra-challenged when public housing isn’t out there or available to suit their needs. Furthermore, when you have a family in a situation where there is a parent who has a disability or a child with a disability, our stock of public housing seems to again be lacking. The challenge, in my opinion, is that there isn’t a progressive plan to create suitable housing. I find that these families tend to be left out, waiting and waiting for quite a significant amount of time because an appropriate stock of housing doesn’t exist.
The intent of this motion is to look at all areas. I’m sure that a lot of this information exists within the local LHOs. They would have that type of information, if a family came forward and if anyone in that family had a disability, and what type of suitability, in the sense of housing, needs to be available. It’s quite exciting that this motion is coming during Disabilities Week, because it further highlights the challenges that people live with. It’s the principle of what I see as public government that should be out there making sure lives are made easier. It should certainly underscore the fact that we should try to make sure they have a fulfilling life and a quality of life that we can provide for them. I don’t see our public housing stocks meeting that challenge. I don’t think it’s an excessive challenge to ask them to take an assessment of what they have on their landscape and start planning for this need.
Mr. Chairman, I’m just going to close by pointing out that I’ve got a couple of constituents who are in the family scenario. They have a disability, whether it’s the parent or the child, and the fact is they sit
and wait. Nothing is available, and it’s horrible that they’re in dire need for public housing. But the fact is we can’t get public housing to suit them.
That’s kind of why the motion’s here. In my view, it will help raise the standard of quality of life for people who’ve been challenged. I think this is an application that can be applied throughout our North and throughout our communities, because I
think every LHO will know their area best.
I certainly hope a strategy will look not just at the North but at local communities as well. Thank you.