HOUSINGAGAIN-L Housing Again Bulletin Number 8

[Catherine Nasmith <cnasmith@sympatico.ca>]

HOUSING AGAIN -  Bulletin Number 8
February 23, 2000

A twice-monthly electronic bulletin published on what people are doing
to put housing back on the public agenda in Ontario, across Canada and
around the world. Our web site is http://www.housingagain.web.net

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In this bulletin:

1. Looking for a federal presence
2. Defining the issues in London
3. Federal budget expected
4. Housing debated in Commons
5. Visit our site

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1.  Looking for a federal presence

"It would be easy to fill the room with critics of the government's
housing record," says Paul Dowling, "but it would be like talking to an
empty room unless there is a government presence at the conference.
We're hoping to get the Minister of Public Works Alfonso Gagliano, who
is responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It seems
that Claudette Bradshaw (she had been appointed to look into the
homelessness issue) has shifted away from housing, so we asked Mr. Gagliano."

Paul Dowling, a steering committee member of the Canadian Housing and
Renewal Association, is working hard to ensure both sides of the housing
debate participate in the March 24 conference: Toward An Affordable
Housing Policy for Canada-A National Symposium of the CHRC.

The meeting is structured to progress from the large-scale issues to the
actual details of getting more housing built. "We start with an
overview," Dowling explains, "so we can ask, What is the context for
social policy to be made? First, we have to examine the constitution,
federal-provincial relations and power. only then can we look at social
policy, and end the day with the specific, looking at affordable housing.

Dowling sees the lack of government housing policy to be at the crux of
the housing crisis. "We have no policy that says if there is a lack of
affordable housing the government should do something. So, in Ontario,
during the N.D.P. government, we were only tinkering with details
because there was an ideological assumption about housing being a
concern for government. That meant the Conservative government, when it
got elected in 1995,  could stop it dead because there was no policy
foundation backing previous expenditures."

Dowling believes there is a changing context at the federal level. " We
hope to discuss what that is, which is why we've invited the Deputy
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Alex Himmelfarb, the chief author of the
Social Union Framework agreement."

The symposium is being held at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa  For
further information see the Events tab on the web site, 
http://housingagain.web.net

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2. Defining the issues in London

"Impressive unanimity emerged from the London Housing Forum," according
to Sarah Power. "I think it provided the city the understanding needed
to actively promote the conditions necessary to create affordable housing,"

Power, a facilitator with Rooftops International, was a speaker at the
forum held in London on February 15. Other key speakers were  John
Martyn of the Peterborough Community Housing Development Corporation,
and Mark Guslits, a Toronto developer who has been retained by the
Toronto  as special advisor on affordable housing issues.

The three add had different perspectives - Power at the international
level, Guslits as a developer, and Martyn as activist providing
affordable housing house-by-house on a volunteer basis in Peterborough -
but all three spoke in one voice about the need for close cooperation
between city government, non-profit organizations, and private builders,
and for the federal and provincial governments to accept their duty to
make safe housing a guaranteed fact of life.

The forum was organized by London city councillor Susan Eagle and
controller Russ Monteith (see Housing Again newsletter #7) to discuss
what to do with the nearly $1 million remaining in the city budget from
funds allocated to provincially controlled housing funding. It is
thought that similar kinds of surpluses probably exist in towns and
cities across the province.

One of the key ideas that found wide acceptance was the idea of using a
large portion of this windfall to establish a revolving loan fund for
capital purposes.

Eagle praised Mayor Diane Haskett's presentation to the forum.

"I spoke from the heart," the Mayor said in a phone interview. "We are
using the Big Cities' Mayor's Caucus to identify homelessness as a
public disaster and insist that everybody has the right to affordable housing."

Mayor Haskett dismissed the criticism that of the 100 participants, few
councillors attended. She noted that all councillors hold full time jobs.

"Council members support Councillor Eagle and Controller Monteith's
leadership," she said. "The Affordable Housing Task Force is very well
regarded because of their balanced approach, bringing leadership in
different areas and working for a consensus. The challenges have been so
great in absorbing all the downloading that higher levels of government
must understand it can't all be on our shoulders. Poor housing affects
everyone and the whole structure of the community. Look at health care,
for example."

The mayor warned that the city couldn't solve the problem on its own.
"Just because of the unspent funds, that doesn't mean that financial
resources are fully here. There has to be help from the federal government."

Some felt the private sector was under-represented at the forum, but
Eagle felt their presence was still important. She noted how the
business people were taken aback by the broad definition of
homelessness, which goes far beyond people on the street.

With unanimous support for the need to keep up pressure on the federal
government and the need for a trust fund to alleviate homelessness and
precarious housing, the Task Force will be taking their report before
city council to obtain its support, which Eagle says will be "an up-hill 
battle."

One achievement particularly pleased Eagle. "With the increased public
awareness from media coverage making housing a topic for discussion, I
think it provided ammunition for housing advocates to get re-energized
because they have such a long, difficult struggle."

************

3. Federal budget

The Federal budget is expected to be released by Minister of Finance
Paul Martin on February 28. Various briefs and comments regarding the
budget can be found in the Discussion tab of the web site, 
http://housingagain.web.net.

There will be plenty of eyes on Finance Minister Paul Martin as he rises
in the House of Commons to deliver the budget speech. The Federation of
Canadian Municipalities has proposed that housing be part of a
federal-provincial-municipal infrastructure program, along with sewers
and water. The three levels of government would share in the funding and
the money would be used to develop new affordable housing, or renovate
existing substandard housing.

Many groups across the country, including the National Coalition on
Housing and Homelessness, have endorsed the One Percent Solution, which
calls on the federal government to double its housing spending. The
additional $2 billion annually would fund new construction and
renovations to existing units, along with support services.

Analysis and response to the federal budget will be posted in the Alerts
section of the Housing Again web site at http://housingagain.web.net.

**********

4. Housing debated in Commons

Members of Parliament had a special debate on a housing motion in the
House of Commons on February 11. All of  Canada’s political parties
agreed that the country needs a national housing plan.

The debate was prompted by a private members’ motion from Vancouver East
MP Libby Davies, the New Democratic Party housing critic, calling for a
national housing strategy and proposing that the One Percent Solution be
adopted. Under house rules, a private members’ motion must have the
unanimous consent of the Commons before it is considered "votable". The
governing Liberals refused to give their consent for a vote on the
motion. 

Some excerpts from the debate:

Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): "Canada is the only developed
country in the world without a national housing strategy. What a
disgrace. The root cause of homelessness is lack of housing. It is as
simple as that. Housing activists have said it, reports have confirmed
it, homeless families know it and yet the government refuses to act on
it. Canadians know what needs to be done. We need the government to
commit to a national housing strategy, a strategy that calls for the
following: a federal investment of an additional 1% of overall spending
on housing, or $2 billion annually; a national approach that is national
in scope and in vision. That means no more patchwork solutions." 

Mr. Werner Schmidt (Kelowna, Ref.): "The national housing policy is a
major issue for Canadians. The government should be held to account and
asked when it is going to come up with a national housing policy that
will work and solve the problems. It should not just throw money at it.
It has done that for years and it has not solved anything." 

Mrs. Pauline Picard (Drummond, BQ): "Recent years spent fighting the
government's budget deficit have hit society's disadvantaged the
hardest. It is therefore appropriate, when the first fruits of this new
budgetary era are gathered, to think right off of those who have
suffered most at the hands of this government's policies. Action is
urgently required. Social housing is a crucial weapon in the fight
against poverty."

Ms. Angela Vautour (Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, PC): "To address this
growing problem we need first and foremost a national strategy to deal
with homelessness. That strategy must provide affordable housing and
address the problem of growing poverty. We need a plan to reduce
homelessness with targets for reducing poverty and an increase in the
amount of affordable housing available to Canadians. Will that plan
include the commitment of new finances? Of course."

Ms. Carolyn Parrish (Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works
and Government Services, Lib.): "Our government is committed to action
across the broad spectrum of housing issues. We are taking a
comprehensive approach. We are seeing concrete results. The primary
instrument for the Government of Canada's action in the area of housing
is the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. I stress again that CMHC
is committed to ensuring that Canadians remain among the best housed
people in the world. However, our government is aware that there are too
many of our citizens who do not have adequate housing. Rest assured that
the government through CMHC will continue to improve Canadians access to
quality, affordable housing."

The full proceedings of the debate are posted in the Resources section
of the housing again web site at http://www.housingagain.web.net.

***********
5. Visit our Site: Fresh news, right away!

Check out the "Alerts" section of the Housing Again web site for fresh
news posted right away. The section is updated daily and contains
important and interesting information. Point your browser to
http://www.housingagain.web.net then click on "alerts". Make sure to
check regularly for new information. If you have a news release or other
news, you can post it to the site by clicking on "post". 
http://www.housingagain.web.net

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