Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press Saturday March 11, 2023
The Manitoba government released its Homelessness Strategy on February 28th. The primary questions being asked by social housing advocates are: what took you so long, and what’s the long-term plan?
As noted in the strategy, tackling homelessness requires multiple interventions and a whole of government approach. “A Place for Everyone” outlines a 5-pillar approach that if implemented and expanded on annually, could make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable Manitobans.
Housing and homelessness
March 6, 2023
For Immediate Release Winnipeg (Treaty One): True North Real Estate purchase option goes against the community vision for Portage Place land and mall.
The Manitoba government’s recently released Homelessness Strategy amounts to a belated recognition that to relieve the shortage of affordable housing that blunts and blights the lives of thousands of people in this province government might actually have to build some housing.
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press January 12, 2023
Government housing policy preferences are based on values, the most fundamental being the extent to which housing is viewed as a right, or as a commodity.
From a rights value base, housing is a social good — a home and place of safety to build one’s life, relationships and connection to the community. It is a key social determinant of health that can strengthen or weaken our physical and mental well-being.
Manitoba’s the Disability Support Act establishes a framework for providing financial assistance outside the Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) system to persons with prolonged and severe disabilities. This fall, the government is considering draft regulations for the new program.
Since learning on July 26, 2022 that their home would soon be listed on the private market, the residents at Lions Place have been fighting hard to keep their home out of for-profit hands. This is not a battle that they should have to fight in their senior years. Their needing to do so raises several questions about an obvious gap in our social safety net and the responsibility and accountability of non-profit housing providers who have been supported by tax dollars to address this need.
VANCOUVER — As municipal and provincial leaders gather for the Union of BC Municipalities convention this week, housing affordability is a key issue on the agenda.
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press April 27, 2022
Authored by a team of researchers out of Dalhousie University, University of Toronto and Cape Breton University, this report summarizes a study exploring the homeless sector in Nova Scotia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Halifax, NS – Today, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia released the report,Homelessness during a pandemic: Learning lessons for disaster preparedness in Nova Scotia.