[homeles_ot-l] Ontario affordable housing consultations announced

Thu Jun 4 12:00:38 EDT 2009

FYI . . . Great news for Ontario and Ottawa!  The ATEH is playing an active
role in the Housing Network of Ontario. The Ottawa Consultation date is set
for July 27, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Church Hall, 153
Woodroffe Avenue. 

More information leading up to the consultation in Ottawa will be available
very soon.

Lynne

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

613-241-7913, ext. 205

HYPERLINK "http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/"www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca

   _____  

From: hhno-on-owner at povnet.org [mailto:hhno-on-owner at povnet.org] On Behalf
Of Yutaka Dirks (ACTO)
Sent: June 3, 2009 4:43 PM
To: hhno-on at povnet.org
Subject: [hhno-on] Ontario affordable housing consultations announced

Housing Network of Ontario welcomes announcement of Consultations for new
Ontario Housing Strategy 

TORONTO, June 3 – The Housing Network of Ontario welcomes the Ontario
Government’s announcement today of public consultations to develop a new
long term affordable housing strategy for Ontario. 

“The high cost of housing is the single biggest expense for low, moderate
and even middle-income people across the province, and Ontario has the
highest housing costs in Canada,” says Michael Shapcott, Director of
Affordable Housing for the Wellesley Institute and one of the founding
partners of the Housing Network of Ontario.   “Addressing the need for
affordable housing must be a key part of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction
Strategy if the government is to meet its target of cutting child and family
poverty by 25% by 2013. So we’re pleased to see that the Ontario government
will begin public consultations this June and a new long term affordable
housing strategy for Ontario will be announced early next year.” 

“This is an historic opportunity. Ontario has never had a comprehensive
provincial housing plan – we’ve been waiting for decades for this
commitment.  There are over 160,000 households on the wait list for
affordable housing in Ontario, and 1 in every 5 tenant households are
spending more than 50% of their income on rent.  With the economic downturn
making this situation even tougher now is the time for people to let our
government know what we need for a provincial plan that assures stable and
affordable homes for all,”  said Sharad Kerur, Executive Director, Ontario
Non-Profit Housing Association.

“Communities across Ontario have been eagerly awaiting these public meetings
to talk about the housing crisis and what the provincial government needs to
do. The Housing Network of Ontario is calling for Ontario’s Long-term
Affordable Housing Strategy to address four priorities: affordability
measures to increase the supply and make existing housing more affordable;
availability of well-maintained housing that addresses the diversity of
community needs; supports, programs and protections that help all Ontarians
equitably access and maintain affordable housing; and a clear way to measure
progress, to ensure that housing insecurity and homelessness are being
reduced,” said Yutaka Dirks, of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. 

The government announcement states that Housing Minister Jim Watson will
hold consultations in 12 communities between June – September.  MPPs are
being encouraged to hold consultations in their ridings before December
2009. People can provide input via a government website or by calling
1-877-224-7271. Full information about the upcoming consultations, including
resources and links, is available at HYPERLINK
"http://stableandaffordable.com/"http://stableandaffordable.com.

“The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction calls on all MPPs to hold
consultation meetings in their ridings to get input for Ontario’s new Long
Term Affordable Housing Strategy.  We will be working with our partners
across Ontario to ensure that MPPs listen to the community and hold meetings
beyond the 12 communities that Minister Watson will be visiting,” said
Jacquie Maund, Coordinator of Ontario Campaign 2000.

“And while the government is consulting, low income people in Ontario need
to see progress on spending the $600 million for housing construction and
retrofit that was committed in the March Ontario budget.”  

The Housing Network of Ontario includes anti-poverty activists, homelessness
groups, social housing advocates, equity and human rights groups, non-profit
organizations, tenants and others working to ensure the provincial
government delivers an integrated and fully-funded affordable housing
strategy.  HYPERLINK
"http://www.stableandaffordable.com/"www.stableandaffordable.com

The Housing Network of Ontario is linked to the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty
Reduction, over 450 organizations across Ontario working to eliminate
poverty in the province. HYPERLINK "http://www.25in5.ca/"www.25in5.ca

Media contacts:  

Michael Shapcott, cell 416-605-8316       Sharad Kerur 416-927-9144x102

Yutaka Dirks, 416-416-592-5855x5243    Jacquie Maund 416-595-9230x241

-30-

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.560 / Virus Database: 270.12.26/2116 - Release Date: 15/05/2009
6:16 AM

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.560 / Virus Database: 270.12.26/2116 - Release Date: 15/05/2009
6:16 AM

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20090604/ebd2e019/attachment.htm>