HOUSING AGAIN • Bulletin
Number 83 July 1, 2005
The Housing Again Bulletin, sponsored by Raising the
Roof
as a partner in Housing Again.
A monthly electronic bulletin highlighting what people
are doing to
put housing back on the public agenda in Ontario,
across Canada
and
around the world.
Our web sites are:
Housing Again
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Writer/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/OQM309MI/<http://www.housingagain.web.net>
Shared Learnings on Homelessness
http://www.sharedlearnings.org%20/
http://www.liaison-itineranceorg/
Raising the Roof
http://www.raisingtheroof.org/
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In this Issue:
Community
Profile: Saskatchewan Indian Women Work to Reduce Violence against Women and Girls
Feature: Protecting
Canada’s
Non-Profit and Co-Op Housing Assets
News Briefs: Raising the Roof Charity Golf
Tournament; 3rd World Urban Forum Update; CMHC Releases New Report;
Reminder from Housing Again
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Community Spotlight:
Saskatchewan Indian
Women Work to Reduce Violence against Women and Girls
With financial assistance from the Government of Canada, the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian
Nations (FSIN) Women’s Commission will work to build community capacity
to reduce violence against aboriginal women and girls. The Commission has been
awarded $98,418 for a project called “Kikawimaw
askiy: Bringing Back to Where We Once Were.”.
The federal government hopes the small grant will help respond
to the needs of Aboriginal women and the joint effort means more support for
groups and organizations, who work at the community level, to address local
needs. Of the total funding amount, $50,450 is being provided through the
National Crime Prevention Strategy and $47,968 under the Urban Aboriginal
Homelessness, a component of the Government of Canada’s National
Homelessness Initiative.
The FSIN Women’s Commission will work with local
communities to explore the factors that lead to the sexual exploitation,
transience and disappearance of Aboriginal women and girls. These factors
include homelessness, addictions, and family violence. Issues of poverty,
discrimination and race-based violence targeting Aboriginal women will also be
addressed.
The project goal is to help communities work together with a
view to increasing the number of strategies to prevent abuse, assisting women
in recovering their well-being and increasing community safety for women.
In October 2004, the Federation
of Saskatchewan
Indian Nations Chiefs-in-Assembly passed a resolution forwarded by the
Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission and the FSIN Saskatchewan
First Nations Women’s Commission designating 2005 as the Year of the First Nations Woman. The
Proclamation provides a vehicle to both raise awareness to the substandard
living conditions faced by many First Nations and Métis women and to work
towards change.
At the same time, Amnesty
International’s report, Stolen Sisters – A
human rights response to discrimination and
violence against Indigenous women in Canada was released to
raise public awareness of tragic loss of nine Aboriginal women victimized by
violence, social and economic marginalization, racism and discrimination. Four
of these women were from Saskatchewan.
www.amnesty.ca/stolensisters/index.php
“All women have the right to live in safety and
dignity but overt cultural prejudice and official indifference have put the
Indigenous women of Canada
in harm’s way,” said Irene
Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “As a priority, the
governments at all levels in Canada must work with Indigenous women in the
country to ensure that no more ‘sisters’ are ‘stolen’
from their communities as the result of discrimination and violence.”
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Feature:
Protecting Canada’s Non-Profit and
Co-Op Housing Assets
Housing co-ops are in every neighbourhood in cities across
the country providing an affordable home for many people. People who live in
co-ops come from diverse backgrounds, varied incomes and may have special needs
creating vibrant communities. Some people living in co-ops, however, worry
about the future of their beloved communities.
Over
the next decade in Canada,
operating agreements for devolved units are scheduled to expire for about 6 per
cent of the total portfolio, primarily in federally subsidized public housing,
warns David Peters from Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association.
In the second decade (2014 – 2023), the remaining public housing
agreements will expire as will agreements under the Section 95 housing program
signed prior to 1986. In the third decade, agreements signed between 1973 and
1978 for Section 26, 27 and 61 programs, and those signed post 1985, will also
expire. For a copy of a report on the issue, go to www.onpha.org or www.chfc.ca
The potential scale of this issue is significant, Peters
told Housing Again. In Ontario,
the operating agreements for close to 250,000 devolved units will expire over
the next three decades (including those whose operating obligations are now a
part of the SHRA). The first projects to be affected will be so-called
‘public housing’ and those programs designed to house low-income
people, including supportive housing and Aboriginal housing programs.
While the instances are rare, there have been attempts by
non-profit and co-op housing groups to sell their assets for the benefit of
current members or directors. The recent Bridlewood Co-op case is a matter of
public record. The board prepaid their mortgage and tried to sell the
individual units to the members. Eventually, the court upheld the objection of CHF Canada, the one opposing member and
the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, ruling the sale violated the Co-op Corporations Act.
Unfortunately, other provinces do not have as strong
protection within similar corporation legislation.
Although the vast majority of co-op boards are fully
committed to providing affordable housing in a not-for-profit context, ONPHA, Canadian Housing Renewal Association
and Co-Operative Housing Federation of
Canada, as well as others, are working hard to find solutions before any
agreements expire. Service managers, the Province, CMHC, CHF Ontario and ONPHA
have set up a committee to address the pressing issues. “There may be
some jousting over how to solve the problem,” Peters said. “But,
the overall outcome everyone is looking at seems to be the same.”
.
“This is clearly an interest in which all governments
who represent the one taxpayer have in common,” he said. “It is
also an interest fully shared by the co-op and non-profit leadership.”
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NEWS BRIEFS:
Raising the Roof Charity Golf Tournament
Here’s another way you can help find solutions for Canada's
homeless. Join HOMES Publishing Group for their Charity Golf Tournament
on Tuesday August 23 in Newmarket,
Ontario with proceeds to benefit Raising
the Roof. www.raisingtheroof.org
3rd World Urban Forum Update
UN-HABITAT and the Canadian government have begun
preparations for the 3rd World Urban Forum, a meeting that will bring together
public and private institutions, experts and decision-makers from around the
world to discuss the key urban challenges, including homelessness, facing the
world today. The 3rd World Urban Forum will take place in Vancouver from June 19 to June 23
2006. Vancouver
is the site of the 1976 United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, which
led to the establishment of a UN agency dedicated to human settlements
development two years later. http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf/2006/
CMHC Releases New Report
In May 2005, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
released a new report entitled Homeless
Applicants' Access to Social Housing. The study of waiting list and
application processes for social housing and the issues facing homeless
applicants took place between April 2004 and February 2005. The research
included a literature review, interviews with key informants, and data
collection using survey tools and focus groups. A total of 20 housing providers
from four provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick
and Ontario)
were interviewed.
ftp://ftp.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/chic-ccdh/Research_Reports-Rapports_de_recherche/eng_unilingual/chic_may4_web.pdf
Reminder from Housing Again
Housing Again does not publish in the month of
August, but will appear again in your inbox in September. Have a great, and
safe, summer!
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