Federal housing advocate Marie-Josée Houle stands for a photo in Saskatoon, Sask. on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.Federal housing advocate Marie-Josée Houle returned to Saskatchewan this summer to visit Métis organizations and communities and learn about their most pressing housing needs.
A: This was a bigger trip, really looking at housing conditions and homelessness and housing precarity in different regions of Saskatchewan — not just focusing on the larger cities — and looking atWe didn’t see the entire province, but we focused specifically on Metis settlements and communities, and also a few areas where Metis people have experienced forced relocation and displacement.
And some areas are doing very well, but they’re doing very well only because of very targeted investment and because. And that’s very worrisome, because if there is no succession plan, so many people will be harmed as these individuals move on — or it will leave them feeling trapped, like they will never be able to move on or retire, which is a normal part of life.
A lot of the housing that I saw in the Metis communities was old, and there was a failure to provide adequate funding to even maintain these units. It shows a lot of signs of neglect. I’m hearing stories of people spending twice as much as they’re paying on rent in order to keep their houses warm in the winter, and those are not big houses. That’s a symptom of the housing conditions.
Q: What are some of the ways people are trying to improve the housing situation in Metis communities in Saskatchewan?