I’m writing in response to a letter to the editor (Shameful Gov’t Killed Housing Plan, The Daily News, March 6).

Private Members’ Bill C-400 called for a national housing strategy, which CMHC estimated would cost taxpayers up to $5.45 billion annually and include another layer of costly bureaucracy to our government. 

That is not to say that government should not play a role in affordable housing; on the contrary, our government has provided significant investment in this area, including in our riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo. 

Our government has invested over $2 billion in affordable housing in support of over 16,500 affordable housing projects currently completed or underway. 

Through our Homelessness Action Plan we have assisted in the purchase and renovation of buildings for social housing, as well as other services for the homeless. 

A local example is the $500,000 the government contributed to Henry Leland House in Kamloops in 2009, or the $205,949 our government committed to renovate units for the Sahali Housing Co-operative. 

For more examples and a general overview of how the federal government has supported our local communities, please visit my website (www.cathymcleod.ca) and look at the drop-down menu under the “Federal Funding” tab on the top menu to see a breakdown of funding for the previous and current parliament.

Personally, I firmly believe in a grassroots approach to combatting homelessness, and that while the federal government does play an important role in tackling this issue we must act in partnership with individuals, organizations and communities to make a lasting difference. 

CATHY McLEOD

MP, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo