HOUSINGAGAIN-L Housing Again Bulletin No. 36

[Catherine Nasmith <cnasmith@sympatico.ca>]

HOUSING AGAIN - Bulletin Number 36
July 4, 2001

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.
If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail:
gallop@interlog.com.

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1.Hamilton rebounding
2. Toronto social housing given to a "hands off" landlord
3. Saskatoon declares housing a human right
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1. Hamilton rebounding

On very meagre resources, the City of Hamilton has been able to launch a
downtown revitalization program centred around affordable housing.

There are now six projects on the go under the city's
Downtown-Convert-Renovate-to-Residential Loan Program. Two of these
projects are currently under construction - a 190-unit rental apartment
building and a 90-unit seniors' residence. Over the next five years, the
city is aiming to see a total of 545 units built.

The renovation plan provides incentives to developers who are interested
in turning abandoned commercial buildings into rental housing in the
downtown business improvement area where office vacancies are at 30 per
cent. The city offers potential developers  a ten-year loan of up to
$20.00 per square foot of habitable space, at zero per cent interest.
The initiative has began with the renovation of storefronts into 
apartments, but has expanded into the renovation of whole office towers.

Tom Weisz, president and CEO of Effort Trust Company, owns an old
commercial buildings that is going to be turned into rental housing for
seniors.  A few years ago he was considering selling the building, which
had several vacancies. But once the city established the incentive
program, Weisz was able to keep it. Now, with apartments set to open
next year, he is finding that medical offices in his building - they
were once considering re-location - are now staying put.

"If it weren't for this incentive program, my building would have been
shut down. No one wants to see another boarded up building," he
remarked.

"By increasing the rental housing supply, we are expanding the potential
of providing more opportunity " explains Mark Mascarenhas,  director of
the program. Mascarenhas is quick to caution that the province and the
federal government still has an obligation to assist in these
initiatives, particularly as the numbers of people living on the street
are increasing.

"This program by no means absolves the federal and provincial government
from their obligation to housing for the many homeless people in the
community," says Mascarenhas, adding that none of the new units built
under this program are geared-to-income.

"The homeless problem is growing here," says Rosemary Foulds,
coordinator of Hamilton's hostel unit. "We're seeing more families and
young people without housing."

2. Toronto social housing given to a "hands off" landlord

Housing activists continue to worry that Toronto's new amalgamated
housing authority will erase 30 years of progress in the city's  housing
management.

Housing activists in Toronto gasped as in a matter of weeks city council
moved quickly to junk a generation's worth of work invested in creating
a powerful and successful housing management model that has given rise
to both extensive tenant input and municipal scrutiny.

The decision was made when staff reported on how the 29,000 public
housing units downloaded to the city by the provincial government,
should be integrated with the equal number of social housing units
controlled by the city's own housing company. In all, the city is
responsible for 60,500 units housing about 164,000 residents.

Management of the city's social housing stock has been handled for more
than 20 years by two companies (now amalgamated into one) appointed
directly by, and responsible to, city council. Public housing has been
managed by a board at arms length from the province, without financial
or policy control at the provincial level. Many have complained that the
public housing model separates responsibility from authority, making it
difficult to manage well. The public housing authority in Toronto has
been subject to many complaints about lack of repair,  unresolved
security problems, and poor tenant relations.

On June 7 city staff recommended that the management structure for all
units be a model similar to that for public housing. Tenants and others
asked that the matter be delayed for further consideration, but city
council endorsed the staff recommendation on June 28. .  "Rather than
consult and go 'round and 'round the rosie on this, let's just get on
with it," councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby told the Toronto Star.

"The mentality is 'lets ram this sucker this through and maybe people
won't realize that privatization is the underlying goal'," remarked
Jennifer Ramsay, of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation.
"They spent months agonizing over homeowner taxes and now they want to
pass this in a few weeks!"

"It has taken us thirty years to build a model that has tenant
involvement and direction, and suddenly within less than 30 days they're
going to dismantle this work!" exclaimed Toronto councillor Pam
McConnell. "I want to see new models and options. I want to make sure
that the new public housing that is accountable to tenants."

With the new structure, the city council will have no direct impact on
the management of housing; nor will the new company have responsibility
for financial issues. Social housing for the largest city in Canada
would be overseen by a 13 member board of directors that staff have
recommended should include four city councillors and two tenants.

Critics argue that the haste and lack of consultation is deliberately
designed to prevent a thorough consideration of the matter. They say it
will inevitably lead to a market-driven approach to housing in a city
that has the lowest vacancy rate in Canada.

3. Saskatoon declares housing a human right

The City of Saskatoon recently signed a declaration that recognizes 
housing as a fundamental human right.

Groups ranging from the Saskatoon Credit Union to the Saskatoon Refugee
Association also penned their commitment to the "Declaration of the
Right to Adequate Housing", which identifies adequate housing as
essential to the freedom and dignity of individuals and communities, and
recognizes that housing is a key barometer of the health and well-being
of families and children. The declaration was prepared by the Saskatoon
Communities for Children, a coalition of grassroots activists.

"The city shares the concern of Communities for Children that housing is
essential for the well-being of children and their families," states
Saskatoon mayor Jim Maddin. "The city has maintained a leadership role
in building capacity in the community to tackle housing needs."

This is a sentiment shared not only by politicians here, but also by
business leaders. In the past, the city's housing activists and Chamber
of Commerce managers have gone to Ottawa-as a team-to press for housing.

"We know from experience that the life of a family is transformed when
there is stable and affordable housing," said George Keter, CEO of the
Saskatoon Credit Union.

In 1996, the city developed a strategic plan to deal with housing woes
after the federal government withdrew from social housing. Over the last
five years, the city has helped build 595 units, compared with the
period between 1995 and 1997, when there was zero housing activity in
the city.

The declaration is also intended to foster a broader education strategy.
"The message we want to get out is that we  have to stop talking about
housing and start talking about communities," says Russell Mawby,
housing facilitator for the city. "We need to always talk about housing
in terms of building good communities."

Mawby says that the strategy is to have as many community partners as
possible talking about housing in terms of economics, health, and
education so that the public at large can relate and  pressure
governments to act. "We've got to convince the electorate that they
should care about housing. When the federal government got out of
housing, it's because they thought that most voters don't care," adds
Mawby.
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