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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Hello everyone,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>A replacement Bill for a National Housing Strategy was presented in Parliament this morning! <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>On behalf of the Alliance to End Homelessness I spoke with François Roy at the press conference held afterwards by </span><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>NDP Housing Critic Marie-Claude Morin who </span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>introduced the legislation</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'> </span><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>and </span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Andrew Cash, deputy NDP Housing Critic. </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>François spoke on behalf of </span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Logemen'occupe de l'Outaouais and </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).</span><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Many long-time affordable housing allies came to the press conference, including </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Michael Shapcott, Director (Wellesley Institute); Rob Rainer (Canada Without Poverty); Kenn Hale (ACTO-Advocacy Centre for Tenants in Ontario); Bruce Porter (Social Rights Advocacy Centre); Leilani Farha, The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation-CERA); </span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Simon Lewchuk (Citizens for Public Justice); </span><span class=ft><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Charlie Hill (National Aboriginal Housing Association); and Jody Ciufo, Catherine Boucher and Dallas Alderson (CHRA).</span></span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Now our task will be to convince local Conservative MPs in communities across the country to vote to pass the Bill on its first reading so all parties can continue working on the strategy. More about this once the replacement bill is assigned a number. The Alliance’s press release on today is below.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#10253F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>Lynne<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:1.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Lynne Browne</span></b><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:1.0pt'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Executive Director, Alliance to End Homelessness </span></b><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:1.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><a href="mailto:lbrowne@ysb.on.ca" target="_blank"><span style='color:#17365D'>lbrowne@ysb.on.ca</span></a></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:1.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>613-241-7913 ext. 205, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:1.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;letter-spacing:.6pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>147 Besserer St., Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;letter-spacing:.6pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><a href="https://mail.ysb.on.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca" target="_blank"><span style='color:#17365D'>www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca</span></a></span></b><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;letter-spacing:.6pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>ATEH on</span></i><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;letter-spacing:.6pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> FACEBOOK <a href="https://mail.ysb.on.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.facebook.com/home.php?%23!/pages/Alliance-to-End-Homelessness-Ottawa/136029386442398?v=wall%26ref=ts" target="_blank" title="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Alliance-to-End-Homelessness-Ottawa/136029386442398?v=wall&ref=ts"><span style='color:#17365D'>HERE</span></a> & TWITTER <a href="https://mail.ysb.on.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://twitter.com/endhomelessOTT" target="_blank" title="https://twitter.com/endhomelessOTT"><span style='color:#17365D'>HERE @endhomelessOTT</span></a></span></i><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#17365D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial Bold","serif";text-transform:uppercase'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial Bold","serif";text-transform:uppercase'>February 16, 2012, For Immediate Release<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa is very pleased to see a replacement Bill to establish a National Housing Strategy brought back to Parliament today,” said Lynne Browne, executive director of the Alliance, which</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> has worked to end homelessness in the city since 1995</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>. Browne was speaking at a media conference on Parliament Hill this morning following </span><span lang=FR-CA style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>MP</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Marie-Claude Morin’s presentation of the Bill in the House of Commons. </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:120%'>Housing organizations and stakeholders from across Canada have long supported such a strategy.</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“The Alliance endorses the NDP’s Bill for a National Housing Strategy that will ensure that Canadians have secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing,” she said. “As a non-partisan organization we encourage current governments to recognize that homeless people – women and men, youth, families and seniors – and the working poor and other vulnerable, marginalized groups have the basic human right to have a safe, stable and affordable home.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Browne noted that opposition parties supported the previous Bill as it made its way to a third reading recognizing that homelessness in one of the richest countries in the world is unacceptable, that it can be solved – when all stakeholders work through a National Housing Strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“</span></strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Here in the nation’s capital, over <strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>7,000 people stayed in an emergency shelter in 2010, including 1,400 children. This outrageous number does not include the thousands living in poverty, working full time but unable to afford rent,” said Browne. “Nationally, a very conservative estimate for the number of homeless people is 225,000. Add to that approximately one and a half million other households living in poverty and</span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> </span></strong>unable to afford a place to live that is adequate, suitable, and affordable. </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Adequate housing is fundamental to reducing Canadian poverty.</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Alliance does not accept the argument that Canadians will be required to pay more taxes to see this legislation through as governments can “Commit and Prioritize” within current budgets to invest more in affordable housing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Browne pointed out that the new Bill can make the right to appropriate housing a reality for marginalized and vulnerable groups - a right that Canada has committed to through international treaties. It can take a human rights approach to governance by bringing all stakeholders to the table in a meaningful way. It can mandate the setting of timelines and targets to end homelessness and include mechanisms to hold governments accountable to their commitments to housing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Once a National Housing Strategy is in place, the Alliance would hope to see an amount equal to 1% of the GDP go to federal investments in affordable housing as suggested by the Wellesley Institute. It wants </span><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>protection of Canada’s</span></span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> 600,000 units of existing social housing and a reinvestment of funds from expiring social housing operating agreements. Creating better affordable housing outcomes is slow work, so the Alliance will want to see strengthened the federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy. </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>For information:</span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:120%'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, Lynne Browne: 613-241-7913, ext. 205<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Media enquiries at the </span></strong><span lang=FR-CA style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Office of MP Marie-Claude Morin, </span><span lang=FR-CA style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Tel: (613) 996-4586, </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Cel: (613) 295-0731</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>