Activists march to get housing recognized as a right
Big change demanded Friday as protesters await feds’ summary of consultations.

thestar.com
Nov. 18, 2016
By Emily Mathieu

Canada’s housing safety net is full of holes, that can and should be fixed, because access to clean, safe and affordable housing shouldn’t be considered a privilege, it is a human right. That was the message sent by advocates, supporters and activists who gathered on the lawn of Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon, before marching through Toronto in support of the National Housing Day of Action.

“You think there is this safety net until you actually need the help and the holes are bigger than the net and so many people fall through,” said Alexandra Williamson, a licensed nurse who spent years couch-surfing after she left an abusive relationship, and struggled to find even temporary housing.

“Getting subsidized housing is like winning the lottery. It shouldn’t be like that,” said Williamson.

The rally was one of the many fundraisers, films, panel discussions and protests taking place in the buildup to pivotal moments in ongoing discussions on safe and affordable housing in Toronto and across Canada.

On Tuesday, the federal government will release a summary of community and stakeholder consultations on housing issues, as part of the National Housing Strategy.

More than 7,000 Canadians participated, in writing, online and more formal consultations, according to a spokesperson from the office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. The full strategy will be released in early 2017, the spokesperson said.

Prior to Friday’s march Kenn Hale, legal director for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said the existing patchwork of programs needs to be replaced with a long-term commitment to ending homelessness and recognizing housing is a human right.

“It should be expected as part of a resident of Canada that you have a decent place to live,” said Hale. “We would like that idea to inform (the federal government’s) policy and have financial support for a policy that is going to make that happen, so we don’t have a continual cycle of homelessness and we don’t press it down to the local government level who don’t really have the financial capabilities of meeting those needs.”

After short speeches, including statements from people who had lost or feared losing housing, the group of several hundred people marched to The Church of the Holy Trinity, an Anglican church (near the Eaton Centre) where memorials are held for men and women who have died on Toronto’s streets.

In addition to countrywide conversation, the feasibility of landlord licensing is also being debated at City Hall. Earlier this month, members of the city’s tenant issues committee recommended that Toronto city council adopt a landlord licensing bylaw and require landlords to display a colour-coded sign similar to the DineSafe program in Toronto. The next step is the licensing and standards committee at the end of the month, then on to council for approval.

At the Queen’s Park march, Liberal MP Adam Vaughan (Spadina Fort-York) said the “components that will make up a national housing strategy are not new, they are not complex and don’t require a hell of a lot of innovation.”

Vaughan, the one-time Liberal critic for housing and urban affairs and now parliamentary secretary for intergovernmental affairs to the prime minister, described housing as the most “most profound need” being tackled by politicians in all levels of government across the country.

In regards to what people should expect in the report released next Tuesday he said, “I think what will show is that we have been listening, we have tapped into the various housing needs that you have heard expressed here today and we have a responsibility to make sure they are reflected in whatever federal and provincial agreements are signed and whatever programs the federal government pursues.”