[homeles_ot-l] A call for action from Cathy Crowe - national housing not war campaign - please sign

Mon Dec 10 09:24:13 EST 2007

FYI – Below are 2 messages on this campaign from Cathy Crowe

Lynne Browne 
Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness 
147 Besserer Street, Ottawa ON  K1N 6A7 
613-241-7913 x 205, lbrowne at ysb.on.ca 
www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca 

***Please distribute widely***

Sign the HOUSING NOT WAR declaration NOW!
HYPERLINK "http://www.housingnotwar.ca/" \nwww.housingnotwar.ca.

A call for action:  Declare HOUSING NOT WAR now!

Dear Friends,

There is an old saying, "Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the
presence of justice." It is in this spirit that the anti-poverty advocates
of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) and the anti-war Canadian
Peace Alliance are joining forces to launch a national HOUSING NOT WAR
campaign. 

Canada once had a world-renowned National Housing Program, won by the
protests of WW II veterans, members of the faith community and women's
groups - but it was scrapped in the 1990s. Soon after, municipalities across
Canada declared homelessness a national disaster. The United Nations agreed.
The campaign won some funding to help the homeless, but the government still
failed to invest in a national housing program. 

The homelessness disaster worsened. Today 300, 000 people in Canada
experience homelessness with its violence, illness and death.

Meanwhile, Canada's military spending has skyrocketed to the highest level
since WWII. In Afghanistan, Canada fights an intense counter-insurgency to
prop up a government of warlords in warfare a majority of Canadians do not
support. In 2007-2008, $18.2 billion will flow to war – 8.5% of the federal
budget.

We call on the government to end its wasteful and destructive war in
Afghanistan and invest in peace at home and abroad. We call for the one
percent solution: Raise federal funding for housing by 1% to 2% ($4 billion)
of the budget. 

As we build a broad coalition, we are preparing to take this issue to cities
and municipalities across Canada. Time is of the essence: a federal election
looms and we need you to sign today. Together we can make this a national
issue and end the twin disasters of homelessness and war. 

We need your support. Join us in calling on the government to implement a
Housing Not War strategy. Sign the declaration today. Learn more, sign the
declaration, and get involved at HYPERLINK "http://www.housingnotwar.ca/"
\nwww.housingnotwar.ca.

In Solidarity,

The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee Steering Committee and close
supporters:

Jon Alexander --- community activist, TDRC Steering Committee
John Andras --- Senior Vice President & Portfolio Manager at Research
Capital Corp., past President of the Rotary Club of Toronto, co-founder TDRC
and TDRC Steering Committee member, founder of Project Warmth, and Chair of
SKETCH 
Bonnie Briggs --- formerly homeless, housing activist, writer, award-winning
poet, founder of the Homeless Memorial, TDRC Steering Committee 
Cathy Crowe --- Street Nurse and Atkinson Foundation Fellowship Award
Winner, author of Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out, co-founder
TDRC and TDRC Steering Committee 
Dri --- Former Tent City resident, TDRC Steering Committee 
Ursula Franklin --- Companion of the Order of Canada, Recipient of the 2001
Pearson Medal of Peace, University Professor at University of Toronto,
physicist and author 
Beric German --- housing advocate working on homeless issues for 25 years,
co-founder TDRC and TDRC Steering Committee 
Sherrie Golden --- anti-poverty activist, artist, musician, TDRC
administrative assistant, co-founder TDRC, TDRC Steering Committee. 
Tanya Gulliver --- Instructor, "Homelessness in Canadian Society", Ryerson
University, TDRC Steering Committee
Alice Heap --- active Anglican, housing activist
Don Heap --- former Toronto City Councillor, former Member of Parliament,
Anglican priest, co-founder TDRC and honorary TDRC Steering Committee 
David Hulchanski --- Professor and Director, Centre for Urban and Community
Studies, University of Toronto, co-founder TDRC and TDRC Steering Committee 
Sister Susan Moran --- Member of the Order of Canada, founder of Out of the
Cold program (Toronto), and member of Our Ladies Missionaries 
Charles Roach --- Criminal and Civil Rights Lawyer, co-founder and present
Chair of Caribana, co-founder of Black Action Defence Committee, and Local
Organizer of the National Conference of Black Lawyers
Bob Rose --- Program Director Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre/TDRC
Steering Committee 
Peter Rosenthal --- Lawyer with Roach, Schwartz and Associates, and
Professor of Mathematics at University of Toronto, co-founder TDRC and TDRC
Steering Committee
Michael Shapcott --- housing advocate, co-chair National Housing and
Homelessness Network, co-founder TDRC, TDRC Steering Committee 
Frank Showler --- retired Ontario civil servant, former teacher, co-founder
TDRC and TDRC Steering Committee 
David Walsh --- President, Realco Property Ltd., Jane Jacobs Award
recipient, board member Agora Foundation and Seeds of Hope Foundation,
co-founder of TDRC and honorary member TDRC Steering Committee 

   _____  

From: Cathy Crowe [mailto:cathy.crowe at sympatico.ca] 
Sent: December 9, 2007 11:11 PM
To: nhhn
Subject: national housing not war campaign - please sign

Hello all, 

In this season of 'Peace' it is encouraging to see the overwhelming support
for TDRC's Housing Not War campaign. In the last two weeks hundreds of
individuals have signed the declaration including Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis,
Linda McQuaig, Mendelson Joe, Sarah Polley, Jack Layton, Shirley Douglas,
Eric Peterson, Gordon Pinset and more...... Organizations that have signed
the declaration include: Toronto and York Region Labour Council, the
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, Front D'Action Populaire en
Reamenagement Urbain (FRAPRU, Canadian Muslim Union, Ontario Association of
Interval and Transition Houses, the Canadian Autoworkers, and more.....

Have you signed yet? We now have the domaine name www.housingnotwar.ca
Check it out! 

Artist Karl Beveridge has assisted us with logo design and volunteers from
the Telecommunications Workers Union are assisting with translation of the
declaration into French. A video for Youtube is currently in production.
Numerous nursing student groups have decided to actively take on this
campaign as part of their community development and health promotion
projects at Ryerson and other universities.

We have hired Andrew Mindszenthy on a part-time basis as our outreach
coordinator and he will work closely with Beric German. 

To reach Andrew: housingnotwar at gmail.com

Two events you can participate in this week:

1.  DECEMBER 10TH:  International Human Rights Day
PEACE CONSCIENCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS: SUPPORT WAR RESISTERS

FRIENDS HOUSE, 60 Lowther Ave., MONDAY DEC 10TH  7 PM

Iraq War Resisters Kim Rivera and Phil McDowell Ed Abbott, conscientious
objector WWII, Naba Salim Hameed, of New Horizons for Women, Iraq

On the impact of the war on citizens of Iraq Invited by Voice of Women for
Peace- Jane Orion Smith, Co-ordinator, Canadian Friends Service Committee

On the international human right of conscientious objection to war-
Andrew MIndszenthy and Beric German
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee 'Housing Not War' campaign

Lyn Adamson, Peace and Social Action Committee, Toronto Friends Meeting

ALL WELCOME - FREE, (donation will be taken for War Resisters Campaign)
INFORMATION ON LETTER WRITING AND PETITION: www.resisters.ca

2. TDRC next meeting. ALL WELCOME.
Come out to learn more about the campaign and learn how you can help move
the campaign along over the next few weeks.
Thursday, December 13
6:30-8:30pm
Central Neighbourhood House
349 Ontario Street (2nd street West of Parliament, between Gerrard and
Dundas)

Hope to see you all there, Cathy Crowe

   _____  

Peace.
I invite you to sign the Housing Not War declaration.
Click on:
HYPERLINK "http://www.housingnotwar.ca"www.housingnotwar.ca

Cathy Crowe's December newsletter:
Cathy's (not Oprah's) 'Favourite Things'
is online at:
HYPERLINK
"http://tdrc.net/index.php?page=40---december-2007"http://tdrc.net/index.php
?page=40---december-2007

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