2010:06 URGENT AND CRITICAL NEED TO PROVIDE SAFE AND ADEQUATE HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ABORIGINAL PEOPLES
Whereas 1 the 2003 Report of the United Nations Expert Committee in the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women urged Canada to provide special housing designed to provide safe housing for vulnerable women; and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples refers to the rights of indigenous peoples with respect to autonomy and self-government and to improvement of their economic and social conditions, including housing, for which states are required to take effective measures to ensure improvement in these conditions; and
Whereas 2 the Assembly of First Nations declares that First Nations’ housing and infrastructure is in crisis and have developed a six-point plan to renew its housing, involving:
a. sustainable funding
b. institutional development
c. information and research capacity
d. financing
e. land management
f. human resources; and
Whereas 3 neither the long term nor annual funding provided by the Government of Canada has resulted in sufficient, safe and sanitary housing and infrastructure; therefore, be it
Resolved 1 that the National Council of Women of Canada adopt as policy that First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples be provided as a matter of urgency, sufficient, safe, healthy housing and infrastructure such as access to roads, clean drinking water and sanitation; and be it further
Resolved 2 that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to work with First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples to develop and implement plans for funding housing and infrastructure construction without delay, and to provide sufficient funding and support to ensure that the housing:
a. is supported by the necessary infrastructure
b. is of sufficiently high quality to ensure healthy living
c. is sufficiently plentiful to eliminate overcrowding
d. takes into account the special needs of vulnerable women and their families on reserves, and
meets the standards of the National Building Code.