[homeles_ot-l] Who cares about housing-Where municipal candidates stand-ATEH Media Release Oct 15.2010

[Lynne Browne]

Hi everyone: 
 
At a press conference this morning The Alliance to End Homelessness released the results of its Candidate's Questionnaire . Several media outlets were present so please watch for coverage. 
 
Download Documents at: 
 
http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/you/MunElection2010.cfm <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/you/MunElection2010.cfm> . 

1.	
	
	Read analysis in the ATEH Chair's Comments on Results. 
2.	
	Assess the results and what the candidates who responded had to say in the Candidates' Answers -  the report presents the responses from the mayoral candidates first and then presents the results from each ward, starting with the incumbent, then those who responded in alphabetical order. We also indicate those who chose not to respond. 
3.	
	See below for the Media Release. 

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness
*********************


October 15, 2010


Media Release


 

Who cares about housing? 

Where the municipal candidates stand 

 

1/3 of candidates care enough to go on record

 about their views & platform 

on housing and homelessness

 

Media Conference

Date: Friday October 15th at 9:30 a.m.

Location:   35 Waller Street (The Ottawa Mission) 

 

 

One third of the 129 municipal candidates have taken a stand and made public their commitment to affordable housing, reducing emergency shelter use, acting on human rights in housing, and spending on poverty reduction.

"On Friday we're releasing a detailed report on the responses to our homelessness and housing questionnaire," said Marion Wright, chair of The Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH).  "The report lets the people of Ottawa know who is willing to act on housing for people on low incomes if elected to the new Council. The Alliance to End Homelessness is non partisan in all elections, so we see the responses as an opportunity for the mayoral and ward candidates to make their positions known."

In September, The Alliance to End Homelessness provided all candidates with its report "The Cost of Doing Nothing More to End Homelessness"  and asked them to  respond to questions on Affordable Housing, Using Upload Dollars, Reducing Shelter Use, Human Rights in Housing, and Poverty Reduction.

"We are pleased with the response rate in general but were surprised by the reaction of some mayoralty candidates, and we were shocked to see that many incumbent Councillors did not take the time to answer given the attention being paid to housing in this election," said Wright.

 "We are especially concerned to see no responses from one quarter of the wards. Affordable housing is a city-wide problem that affects the working poor as well as people who rely on social assistance or disability benefits." 

Five questions were posed to the candidates with positive responses ranging from 54% to 87%:

1.      Will you act to increase affordable housing by 1,000 units each year and invest more municipal resources?

2 A.   Will you reinvest the nearly $80 million dollars being removed from the property tax base by 2018 in new affordable housing and other social services as financial responsibility for social services infrastructure is uploaded back to the province?

2 B.    Will you support the "Housing Answer" and starting in 2011 commit at least 15 million of the upload dollars each year for appropriate affordable housing, supportive housing and homelessness?

3.      Will you make a municipal commitment to reduce the number of individuals in emergency shelters each year?

4.      Will you actively abide by Ontario's Human Rights Policy on Rental Housing and NIMBYism?

5.      Will you act to ensure the City's Poverty Reduction Strategy is successfully implemented with appropriate funding?

The 'Yes' percentages related to each question along with individual candidates' responses and comments will be released at the Media Conference in a 19-page document, "Homelessness and you in the 2010 Municipal Election". Results and Marion Wright's comments will also be posted on the ATEH website immediately afterwards.

The report presents the responses from the mayoral candidates first and then presents the results from each ward, starting with the incumbent, then those who responded in alphabetical order. We also indicate those who chose not to respond. 

"Beyond the 'Yes/No' answers, the comments made by the candidates are very revealing and give voters the opportunity to judge for themselves who best reflects their own concerns," says Wright.

Wright has previously pointed out that an astonishing 20% of Ottawa's population - 70,000 households - has annual incomes below $32,000, including 37,000 with household incomes under $25,000. The vast majority of individuals and families with low incomes rely on rental accommodations in a city where there is a constant increase in home ownership stock, almost no new rental apartments, and over 10,000 households on the social housing waiting list for subsidized housing.

 

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