Sick of Waiting: A Report on Nunavut’s Housing Crisis

 

A short note about this report

....

We’ve known for decades that

Inuit and Nunavummiut have been living in unacceptableconditions. Despite repeated promises from successive Liberal and Conservative governments,families comprised of multiple generations continue to live in the same mould-ridden house asthey have for years.During the 2019 election, I made a promise to highlight their plight. Since being elected, I haverepeatedly called on this federal Liberal government to end the conditions which the UnitedNations Special Rapporteur called "abhorrent, and [which] too often violate the right to adequatehousing." The Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) does not have a budget for tenant damages.

 This is one item that the Federal Government doesn’t cover. The NHC can only do what it can with

the money it is given.I urge the government not to treat these as just numbers - they represent people. People whose

entire families have been drastically impacted by the lack of housing; people who’s families have

broken down from overcrowded and inadequate housing.Over the course of the Fall and Winter I travelled to Kitikmeot and Kivalliq because I wanted toshare what often goes unseen. This report attempts to highlight the ongoing housing needs inNunavut and to amplify the voices of the Inuit and Nunavummiut whose pleas for safe and cleanhousing conditions have fallen on deaf ears for far too long. The damage caused by this neglect is beyond measure.

Providing adequate housing in a way that fits Nunavut’s needs would have a positive effect notonly on people’s living situations but also on their health, on the wellbeing of their families, and on

the wellness of the entire communities.We can do better. We must do better, and we are going to do better.Inuit and Nunavummiut lives are at stake.

 

Publication Date: 
2021
Publisher(s): 
NunatsiaqNews
Location: 
Nunavut