Skeetchestn chief on housing dollars: “We need to get off the gerbil wheel of dependence”
SAVONA, B.C. — Skeetchestn Chief Ron Ignace says he’s thankful the provincial government has announced a $550 million investment into on-reserve housing, but notes it’s not what First Nations people really need.
On Monday, Premier John Horgan announced the money would be spread out over the next 10 years to build and operate 1,750 new units of social housing for projects, both on and off reserve.
“You can’t help but be grateful for the province to be concerned that Indigenous people have safe and secure housing but nonetheless, it’s 1,750 units. What we need, what the province needs is to give us our land and resources so that we can build our own economies, build our own homes, finance our own education institutions, our own health programs. We don’t have an economy,” he says.