For Indigenous women’s safety, Nunavut needs a proper housing market

The trickle-down social effects of a poor economy

Speaking in the House of Commons, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said she couldn’t name the number of Indigenous women who had reached out to her trying to flee from violence.

“To those who are forced to live with their abusive partners, I say, ‘I hear you,’” said the Nunavut MP at the April 26 session.

She went on to talk about some of the contributing factors to those women’s strife, namely overcrowded housing, which limits opportunities for escape, and a seemingly unjust justice system.

The reason Nunavut doesn’t have enough housing is because there’s not enough money going into housing and a weak economic backbone. Demand far exceeds the ability to supply, but individuals in Nunavut have little buying power and fewer options.

The government is obsessed with changing that, for good reason, but it’s a job bigger than government. Building more social housing is not the answer. It is a temporary bandaid that slows the bleeding but doesn’t address the issue.

Other than incentivizing housing projects, what the government can do is clear a path for economic investment in the territory.

Nunavut needs a strong economic base that puts money – power – in individuals’ pockets and optimism in their eyes.

The only way out is for Nunavummiut to become richer. Individual Nunavummiut need economic buying power, not just the government. Economic buying power is freedom in this world, like it or not, and those stuck jobless or floundering in Nunavut’s sleepy economy are at the mercy of the tides.

Even those with decent government jobs have limited opportunities, with almost no housing available for sale. Many Nunavummiut and those who come North for work are simply saving money to put toward a house in the south, because there’s nothing to buy here.

The awkward subject is that the main way for Nunavut to become richer is to make Nunavut look more like the rest of Canada and less like Nunavut, meaning more large infrastructure projects, more roads, more mining, more economic activity. All of this comes at the potential expense of chipping away at the way of life and serenity of an untouched land.

Everyone would like to find a path that balances both pursuits in perfect harmony. While we think of that, in the meantime, people are suffering. It’s doubtful that anyone’s vision for Nunavut involved 15 people cramped in a three-bedroom home, all getting repeatedly sick, all on years-long housing waiting lists and all at the mercy of their lack of options.

BURNETT

Even worse, many of those people, and many Indigenous women, are stuck in homes that are not safe for them. Some are trapped because of their controlling and violent partners, some are trapped economically and can’t afford to leave, and some are trapped because they are sacrificing their own lives to make things as easy on their children as possible.

Going back to Idlout’s comments, Indigenous women need power. That means more than a safe house, which is a fantastic thing to have. Indigenous women need economic power to own their own homes, leave bad situations and pursue new opportunities. Nunavut needs a stronger economy for that.