Urban Native Housing
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LJrban Native Housing: Problems' Policies, Programs and Prospects b Jennifer lV.L Chu A Practicum submitted to the Faculty of Graduate studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of: MASTER OF CITY PLANNING Department of City Planning University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba January,1991 Bibliothèque nationaf e E*E i'"3ä1!i** du Canada Caoadian Theses Service S€rv¡oe des (hèSes canacfiennes Ottaw4 Canåda K¡A ON{ The author has granted an inevocaHe rKXl- L'auteura accordé une l¡cerice inévocable et exclusive licence alfowi4g the National Ubrary non exdusive permetþnt à ta EJibl¡othèque of Canada to reproduce, ioan, dstËute orsell nationale du Canada de reproduire, prêtbr. copies of his/her thes¡s byany means and in dishibuerou vendre Aescoþþs any form ¿eä ürèsd or.format, makil¡g üús fte.sisaræ¡lable de queQue manière et quelque to Ínterested persons, sous forme que ce soit pour mettre des exemplaires de cette thèse à la disposition des personnes intéressées. The author retains ownership of the copyright L'auteur consen¡e fa propriété du droit d auteur in his/her thesis. Neither the thesis nor qui protege sa thèse. N¡la thèse ni des extnaits substantial extracts from it may be printed or substantiels otherwise de celleci ne doivent être reproduced without hilher per- imprimés ou autrement mission. reproduits sans son autorisation- ISBN Ø-315-7663ø-1 \-ana(la(1 tr-r URBAN NATIVE HOUSING: PROBLEMS , POLTCTES , PROGRAI'IS AND PROSPEC;S by JENNIFER I{i. L. CHU A practicum submicted Èo Ëhe Faculty of Graduace Scudies of che Universicy of Manicoba in parcial fulfillmenc of the requirements of che degree of MASTER OF CITY PLANNING o 1991 p"rrirrion has been granted co rhe LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA co lend or sell copies of rhis practicum, co Ehe NATIONAL LIBRARY 0F CANADA to microfiln chis pracricum and to lend or sell copies of che film, and UNIVERSITy MICRO- FILMS co publish an ebscracr of chis practicuo. The author reserves ocher publicacion righcs, and neicher che praccicum nor excensive exËraccs froo iE may be princed or ot.herwise reproduced without Ëhe authorrs permission. Acknouslpdgemcnts I uould like to thank the me¡nbers of my thesis committee for their aduice and guidance throughout this project. Special thanks goes to Dr. Tom Carter, my thesis aduisor, for his help from the conception of thís research to its completion. It was his constant eneouragernent which carried me through times of frustration and despair when the project seemed to be goíng nowhere. My grøtitute also goes to Dr. Paul Thomas from the Department of Politícal Studies ønd Professor Fred Shore of the Department of Nøtiue Studies for their thoughtful comtnents throughout the reseørch. Their ideas enriched the inter-disciplinary øpproach of this thesis. I would like to thank Dr. Mario Carvalho who was able to substitute for Professor Geoff Bargh øs a mernber of the corntníttee. My øppreciation is extended to the housing professionals and those in the public seruices whom I haue interuiewed, for giuing their titne and insights into the intriguing and complex problems of Natiue housing in Winnipeg. I would like to thank Ms. Yuonne Stoesz for introducing me to the Women's Circ\e øt the Hope Centre ond Ms. Geraldine McKøy who helped tne with the d.oor to dnor suruey in the North End of Winnipeg. Also, I would tike to thønk rny husband, Otto, and my døughter, Dorothy Høyee, for their continuous support and entourøgement throughout my grad.uøte stud'ies. Thanks as well goes to Mr. Milosh Takach, a friend ønd a fellow student, who helped me with my grarnrner, and Cønado, Mortgage and Housing Corprøtion whose Graduate Scholarship prouided the finoncial support for the researeh. Løst|y, I would tike to express my specíøl thnnks to the Natiue people of Winnipeg with whom I tøtked in their ho¡nes, øt tlæ food bank and in the comunity eentres. It was their daily struggle in city life whích inspired the research, this thesis is d'edícøted' to them. Absh.act In the past three decades, Canadians have witnessed an increased number of aboriginal people taking up temporary or permanent residence in urban areas.. Many Natives in cities are economicatly depressed and culturally deprived because the traditional support system on resewes is not available in cities. The inability to secure an adequate and affordable housing tops the tist of unmet needs for urban Natives. Housing means more than just providing shelter because a house embodies a social environment which affects one's sense of security and sense of place. Urban Native housing problems are intricate, interdependent and inter-related, but, the problems can be reduced to two major factors: systemic poverty and racism. Past experience has shown that poor people do not have a fair sha¡e of the housing resources in this country and unless the government adopts a comprehensive housing policy which views housing as a social good, poor people in Canada will continually fall through the cracks. The federal government's Urban Native Non-Profit Housing Program was designed to meet the housing needs of Natives in cities based on the philosophy of giving Natives direct involvement in administering and delivering housing services to their own people. Basically, it is successful in meeting the needs of the urban Natives who are most in need of help; however, there are problems with the Program in the areas of accountability, cost effectiveness, and adequary in property management and tenant counselling. Inevitably, Native housing problems should be viewed in the larger context of Native problems. The cycle ofpoverty, dependency, despair and apathy is a result of the colonial, paternalistic Indian policies which relegate the aboriginal people to the status of second class citizens in Canada. Housing can be used as a tool or component in dependency breaking strategies, one of which is community economic development. Table of Contents Chapter One: hrtnoduction 1.1 Nature and Scope of the Research 1.2 Methodolory 1.3 Definition of Natives 1.4 Overview Chapter TÞo: Native Urbanization and The Imtrrcrtance of Housitg 2.1 Introductiøn ........:.. ......5 2.2 Tlrle Trend of Native Urbanization in Canadian Cities ....""5 2.3 Native Urbanization in British Columbia ....."""7 2.4 Tlne Studies of Natives in the Prairie Cities .."""'9 2.5 Ontario Task Force on Native People in the Urban Setting ........11 2.6 The Importance of Housing; Is It Beyond Shelter? .... ....."'13 2.7 Conclusion .... ........17 Chapter Three: Nativqs inWinnipeg! A Statisücaf Profrle 3.1 Introduction 19 3.2 Limitations and Characteristics of the Census Data 19 3.3 The Native Population 22 3.4 Households and Families 25 3.5 Education 29 3.6 Labour Force Activities 32 3.7 Individual and Household Income 37 3.8 Conclusion 4l u Chapter For¡r: The Nature and Scope of Urban Native Housing hnoblems in Winnipeg 4.1 Introduction 43 4.2 Research Methodolory 43 4.3 Types of Tenure 44 4.4 The Indicators of Housing Problems 46 4.5 Affordability 47 4.6 Adequacy 57 4.7 Chronic Mobility 64 4.8 Problems of Not Knowing Their Rights 7L 4.9 Suitability 74 4.10 Problems of Discrimination 76 4.17 Conclusions 80 Chapter Five: The Roles of Govenrmenh Housing Policies and Programs 51 Introduction 82 5.2 Shared Jurisdictions in Housing 83 5.3 The Role of the Federal Government 83 5.4 Manitoba's Social Housing Programs 89 5.5 City of Winnipeg's Social Housing Activities 91 5.6 Winnipeg Housing and Rehabilitation Corporation 93 5.2 The Activities of Core Area Initiative One in Urban Native Housing ..94 5.8 The Federal Government's Expenditures in Housing 95 5.9 The Lack of a Comprehensive National Housing Policy 99 5.10 Conclusion r_ 03 Chapter Six Fedeml Govenrment's [fousing¡Policie's and Pnograms for Lr-rbanNatives 6.1 Introduction... """'104 iii 6.2 Housing Responsibilities of the Federal Government towards Natives... 6.3 Flistory of the Urban Native Housing Program 105 6.4 Nature of the Urban Native Non-Profi.t Housing Program ...110 6.5 Program Evaluation 111 6.5.1 Structural Problems or Diffrculties of the Program LL2 6.5.2 The Diffrculty of Accountability for Public Funds 113 6.5.8 Problems Associated With Inadequate Training Provided By the Funding Agencies TL4 6.5.4 Difficulties in Managing a Small Portfolio t 16 6.5.5 The Problems of Old Houses in the Portfolio 119 6.5.6 Problems of Inadequate Tenant Counselling and Troubled Tenants .......12L 6.5.7 The Difficulties of Dealing With Two Funding Agencies 722 6.5.8 The Involvement of Provincial Politics in the Program Delivery 1,23 6.5.9 The Diffrculties of Achieving Cost Effectiveness t24 6.6 Program Outcome t29 6.7 Recommendations r.31 6.8 Conclusion Chapter Seven: Conch¡sions and Future Directions 7.7 Urban Native Housing Problems L34 7.2 Urban Native Housing Policies and Programs 139 7.3 Problems in Housing Adequacy: old wine in New Bottles? 141 7.4 Community Economic Development and Housing .""""145 7.5 conclusion """"'151- Appendices A. Native Tenant Survey 153 lv B. Individuals/ Organtzations Interviewed 156 C. Sample Questions to the Key Informants 159 D. Sample Questions to Management Personnel of Native Housing Corporations/ Manaitoba Housing/ CMHC (Winnipeg Office) 160 SelectedBibliography 161 v Listof Tables Table 2.1 Indian and Inuit in Urban Centres. .'....6 Table 3.1 Total Native Population in Winnipeg, 1981- & 1986 .....22 Table 3.2 Percentage of Native People in Winnipeg, 1986. ......22 Table 3.3 University Degree/ Some University Education Ratio for Native and Non-Natives in Winnipeg,1981 & 1986.