HOUSINGAGAIN-L Housing Again Bulletin Number 10

[Catherine Nasmith <cnasmith@sympatico.ca>]

HOUSING AGAIN // e-bulletin
April 4, 2000 // Number 10
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A twice-monthly electronic bulletin published in on what people are
doing to Put Housing Back on the Public Agenda in Ontario, across Canada
and around the world. To subscribe, or unsubscribe, click on our website
at http://www.housingagain.web.net.

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In this bulletin:

1 – Skipping along with "skippy"
2 – Housing experts gather in Ottawa
3 – Remembering Jennifer Caldwell
4 – Homelessness: Who benefits?
5 – Six-months-old: Send us your thoughts
6 – Check out our site
7 - Correction

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1 - Skipping along with "skippy"

Three and one-half months ago, six federal cabinet ministers and a
number of MPs gathered at a homeless shelter in downtown Toronto to
announce the federal government’s long-awaited national homelessness
strategy. Funding was set at $753 million over three years. There were
several major funding programs announced, including money for fixing up
rundown housing and a new initiative called Supporting Community
Partnerships Initiative (SCPI) that received $305 million. 

SCPI has become known as "skippy" – or "scuppy" in some circles. The
program, administered through Human Resources and Development Canada
(HRDC), has been limited to ten of the largest cities across Canada.
Housing advocates are concerned that smaller communities and rural areas
have been left out. For instance, only one city in all of the Atlantic
provinces (Halifax) is eligible for "skippy" money.

Program details are very vague, with federal officials talking about
maximum flexibility in considering grant applications. The money can be
used for capital grants, operating assistance and funding development
proposals. However, the federal money can only support up to 50% of any
project. Sponsors will have to get matching funds from provincial,
territorial, municipal, community or private sources. 

Housing providers and homeless advocates are working hard to make
"skippy" work for their projects. We’d like to hear from you about any
experiences that you have with "skippy" or other parts of the federal
homelessness strategy. Simply hit the "reply" button and send us a note,
or log onto the Discussion Area in the Housing Again web site at
http://www.housingagain.web.net. 

Here are the telephone numbers for the federal homelessness facilitators
in each province or territory:

British Columbia / Yukon
Bill Gardner
604-666-2282

Alberta / N.W.T. / Nunavut
Russ Brown
780-495-2424

Saskatchewan
Allan Jacques
306-780-6255

Manitoba
Marilyn Hay
204-983-2231

Ontario 
Julyan Reid
416-954-7700

Quebec
Danielle Vincent
514-283-3964

New Brunswick
Bill Ferguson
506-452-3710

Nova Scotia
Howard Green
902-426-2988

Prince Edward Island
Derek Gee
902-566-7651

Newfoundland
Don Sellars
709-772-5331



2 - Housing experts gather in Ottawa

More than 100 government and non-government housing experts gathered in
Ottawa on March 24th for a day-long symposium sponsored by the Canadian
Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA). Municipal, provincial and
federal officials, along with representatives from community-based
groups, attended the event.

Those attending ranged from Chaviva Hosek, a policy advisor to Prime
Minister Chretien, to Bill Clennett, a Hull-based housing advocate who
is on trial after being arrested during a housing demonstration at the
Prime Minister’s office. Almost every province and territory was represented.

The event comes about one year after the National Housing and
Homelessness Symposium in Toronto helped to bring momentum to the
campaign for a national housing program. In the days leading up to that
meeting, the federal government appointed Claudette Bradshaw as its
homelessness co-ordinator, and the province of Ontario announced new
initiatives. More significantly, the March 1999 event became a catalyst
at the municipal level across the country for more effective housing
programs. Organizers hope that the March 2000 event will have a similar
energizing effect.

David Cluff from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Janet Mason
from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing tried to
squelch the momentum. They defended their governments’ decisions to
withdraw from housing programs over the past decade. Far from convincing
the group, their speeches were rejected by many participants. 

Duncan Cameron from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and
Toronto City Councillor Jack Layton, a vice-president of the Federation
of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), not only provided the rationale for a
national housing program, but also provided detailed policy
recommendations. 

On March 25, about 40 leading housing experts gathered in a special
session jointly sponsored by CHRA and FCM to plot the specific details
of a new national housing program. Close to 100 specific policy details
were identified. The group is to continue to refine the proposals. A
working paper will presented to the annual meeting of the FCM in June in
London. 

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3 - Remembering Jennifer Caldwell

The death count among homeless people in Toronto continues to rise as
the city’s housing crisis grows worse. One of the recent victims,
Jennifer Caldwell, died violently when a fire swept through her
makeshift shelter in the Don Valley near downtown Toronto in early March.

Authorities removed the body of the 20-year-old woman from Vancouver and
were unable to establish an identify because the body was so badly
burned. About 10 days after her death, some members of the Toronto
Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) and others held a private memorial at
the site of her death. The place had not been cleaned up and there were
burned items, parts of her shelter and items discarded by firefighters
littering the ground.

"We wanted to clean up the charred debris of her makeshift shelter and
plant some flowers in her memory," says Cathy Crowe of the TDRC. Just as
the memorial service was set to begin, the advocates received a phone
call from an investigator in the coroner’s office with the name of the
dead woman. The investigator knew the advocates were at the site. "We
are grateful to be able to remember her by name, as well as to remember
her life and tragic death," says Crowe.

Homelessness advocates decided that they would bring pieces of her
charred sleeping bag to Mayor Mel Lastman, Ontario Premier Mike Harris
and Prime Minister Jean Chretien. "The sleeping bag, given to homeless
people in Toronto, is a powerful symbol of charity," says Crowe. "But
that bag was not able to save Ms. Caldwell from the flames and it
couldn’t prevent her death. Affordable housing and support services –
that’s what will save the homeless."

The delivery, along with an open letter, have already been made to
Toronto City Hall and Langevin Block in Ottawa, the site of the Prime
Minister’s Office.

For more information, call the TDRC at 416-703-8482, ext. 411, or send
an e-mail to ccrowe@ctchc.com.

Meanwhile, the TDRC holds regular vigils at Toronto City Hall to mark
the death of homeless people. The most recent vigil is scheduled for
Tuesday, April 4, at 12 noon. Check out the Calendar and the Alerts
sections of the Housing Again website at http://www.housingagain.web.net
for the latest information.

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4 – Homelessness: Who benefits?

Homelessness is no accident, but is the consequence of deliberate policy
decisions at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels,
along with the actions of the private market. If homelessness is a
"man-made disaster", as distinguished Prof. Ursula Franklin has argued,
then who really benefits? A special forum, moderated by Globe and Mail
columnist Michael Valpy, takes up this provocative question on Monday,
May 1, at 7.30 p.m. at the Ontario Institute For Studies in Education
(OISE), Bloor Street at Bedford Road., in Toronto. Check out the details
in the Events section of the Housing Again web site at 
http://www.housingagain.web.net.

University of Toronto Prof. David Hulchanski has written a discussion
paper called "Did the weather cause Canada’s mass homelessness?
Homeless-making processes and Canada’s homeless makers". The paper is
available in the Resources section of the Housing Again web site at 
http://www.housingagain.web.net.

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5 – Six-months-old: Send us your thoughts

The Housing Again website, and our twice-monthly electronic bulletin,
are celebrating our first six months online. We’d like to hear from you.
Hit your "reply" button, or log onto the Discussion area of the Housing
Again web site at http://www.housingagain.web.net.

A few quick questions for you to ponder:

Do you find the bulletin useful and interesting?
Do you have ideas for stories in an upcoming issue?
Are there topics or issues that you would like to see covered?
Any ideas on how we can spread the word about the bulletin?

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6 – Check out our site

Want to know the latest on housing and homeless news in Ontario and
Canada? Check out the Alerts section of our website!

Interested in knowing about an upcoming event in your community? Check
out the Events section of our website!

Need some background information or detailed research on housing or
homelessness issues? Check out the more than 200 items in the Resources
section of our website!

Have a question about housing or homelessness but don’t know who to ask?
Post it in the Discussion area of our website!

Want to know the names and contact information for housing experts
across Canada? Check out the Who’s Who section of our website!

Point your browser to http://www.housingagain.web.net.

7. Correction:
 John and Nora Martyn wrote re Article on Peterborough Housing:

 About the last Bulletin (no 9, mislabelled no 6): the reference to
putting morgages on our own  houses refers to another project, Kairos
Non-Profit Housing. We  started Kairos in 1988 and went to a
government-sponsored subsidized project in 1991. The Peterborough
Community Housing Development Corporation is another, newer project than
Kairos. The financing of the PCHDC is quite a different process.