[homeles_ot-l] FW: Housing Network of Ontario: GTA housing crisis in spotlight this week!

[Lynne Browne]

Hi all,

 

The media advisory for Ottawa's Consultation July 27th from the Ottawa
Branch of Housing Network of Ontario is attached. Below you'll find an
Ontario update.

 

Michael Shapcott just sent a note that he found that the Minister and
ministry officials were very accommodating last night in Toronto, and that
there was plenty of time in both the report-back sessions and also the Q&A
period with the Minister to raise issues. The meeting facilitator was also
careful to continually remind people that there were other ways to add their
views, including the on-line consultation. 

 

He also said we need to continue to remind people that their suggestions
should be as specific as possible. Some of the interventions were pretty
general. Try using  "The Ontario government should." or "The Minister of
Housing should." with specific suggestions regarding funding, legislation,
etc.

 

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

613-241-7913, ext. 205

 <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/> www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca

  _____  

From: Yutaka Dirks (ACTO) [mailto:dirksy at lao.on.ca] 
Sent: July 21, 2009 4:52 PM
To: Yutaka Dirks (ACTO)
Subject: Housing Network of Ontario: GTA housing crisis in spotlight this
week!

 

The housing issues facing tenants and homeless people in the Greater Toronto
Area will be front and centre this week, as the provincial consultation
stops in Scarborough on Tuesday, July 21, and Toronto on the 22nd for two
sessions.  Housing Network of Ontario members and supporters will be sharing
their local housing solutions at the consultations and underscoring the need
for a fully integrated, fully funded long term affordable housing strategy
that addresses four priorities: making housing costs affordable to tenants
on living on low incomes, adequate supply of affordable housing that is in
good repair, supports and protections for tenants to maintain and equitably
access affordable housing, and a clear way to measure progress to ensure
that all Ontarians in need benefit.

 

The HNO organized a community forum in preparation for the Toronto
consultationon Thursday, July 16.  The forum featured a wide range of
experts with lived experience of housing insecurity and other advocates.
Attendees were actively involved in discussing the issues and several key
themes were repeated throughout the afternoon:  Adequate housing must be
recognized as a human right, private market tenants need protections from
unaffordable rent increases, housing investments must prioritize
marginalized groups equitably and address the racialization of poverty, and
money must be spent on building new homes and keeping current affordable
units in good repair.  You can view video footage of the event here
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/sites/default/files/FiveAnswersTipSheet.
pdf>  

 

The Housing Network of Ontario has created a tip sheet to help people
re-frame and answer the 5 questions posed by the provincial government in
the consultation process.  You can download the tip sheet here
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/sites/default/files/FiveAnswersTipSheet.
pdf>  

 

Links to recent media coverage of the Windsor and Kitchener housing
consultations has been added to our website here
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/content/media>  You can also view a
recent Toronto Star article about affordability in the private market and
the housing consultations here
<http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/669109> 

 

Upcoming housing consultation meetings are taking place in Ottawa July 27.
Then the consultations take a break in August and return in September for
meetings in London, Hamilton, Lindsay, Sudbury & Thunder Bay.  The Housing
Network of Ontario wants to see housing consultations held in as many
ridings as possible.  If a meeting has not been held in your riding, please
take 2 minutes to call or email your MPP's office & ask "When & where do you
plan to hold a meeting to get input on the affordable housing strategy being
developed by the Ontario government?  We want to give you input".  Please
email dirksy at lao.on.ca to let us know if your MPP will hold a meeting.  To
find your MPP check www.ontariotenants.ca/government/mpp.phtml

 

The Housing Network of Ontario has created an on-line hub here
<http://stableandaffordable.com/>  that is regularly being updated with the
latest news, reports from community meetings, tips for actions and plenty of
other resources. More than 350 people and groups have endorsed the Housing
Network of Ontario's on-line declaration: "We believe everyone in Ontario
has the right to live poverty-free and with dignity in housing that is
stable, adequate, equitably accessible and affordable. Read the full
declaration and add your endorsement here
<http://stableandaffordable.com/content/our-declaration> . Also on the HNO
web site: You can tell
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/content/tell-us-your-story-0>  your
housing story; find plenty of helpful
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/content/helpful-resources>  resources;
tell us what
<http://www.stableandaffordable.com/content/whats-happening-you-community>
's happening in your community and find out what is happening in other
places; and learn more about the Housing Network of Ontario.

  

***

 

 

Yutaka Dirks

Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator

Advocacy Centre for Tenants - Ontario

425 Adelaide St. W., 5th Flr.

Toronto, ON  M5V 3C1

Tel:   416-597-5855 x. 5243

Fax:  416-597-5821

www.acto.ca

 

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