homelessness « Social Policy in Ontario

Posts Tagged ‘homelessness’

Hunger Inquiry Expert Panel’s Top Ten Recommendations…

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

December 21, 2010
Top 10 Recommendations to address the dire situation illuminated through the the Recession Relief Coalition’s Hunger Inquiry, held… on November 23, 2010… These recommendations address themes that emerged from witness’ presentations… and are directed at all Canadian governments, communities and businesses in recognition that all have a part to play in ensuring that people in Canada do not have to struggle to meet a basic human need: the need for food.

Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, Health, homelessness, poverty, standard of living
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Push is on for national housing policy

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Dec 04 2010
Surely we’ve reached the tipping point. It’s time to act… Bill C-304, a private member’s bill introduced by MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East)… calls for “a national housing strategy to ensure that the cost of housing in Canada does not prevent individuals and families from meeting other basic needs, including food, clothing and access to education.” To attend or endorse the meeting, email Yutaka Dirks at dirksy@lao.on.ca.

Tags: disabilities, homelessness, housing, participation, poverty, standard of living
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A flurry of announcements but little content

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Dec 06 2010
… Welfare rates were still below the poverty line. Healthy food was still out of reach. Affordable housing was still a dream. The 1.6 million Ontarians living in poverty had to settle for an 18-month study of social assistance, a slight loosening of the rent rules for subsidized housing and an extensive list of the good things Premier Dalton McGuinty had done for them… for all the paper his government had churned out and all the announcements his ministers had made, McGuinty had very little to say about reducing poverty.

Tags: budget, homelessness, poverty, standard of living
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Impoverished voices speak out

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Dec. 4, 2010
“… As soon as that housing piece is not there, not safe, or not appropriate to their needs, it really impacts negatively on other aspects of their lives”… there seems to be some “disincentives” in the forms of clawbacks within social assistance programs. “There’s a constant fear people live with that they’re going to be kicked off their benefits and then they’ll lose their homes and won’t be able to pay the bills,”… each interviewee had a story about how the system works against them and frustrates them. They spoke of a system that fosters fear and disincentive to work.

Tags: homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »

Ontario housing strategy: Won’t reduce long wait lists

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Nov 30 2010
Claiming it needed “the time to get it right,” the Liberal government at Queen’s Park long delayed releasing a long-term affordable housing strategy. That’s what makes what was released Monday – three years after it was first promised in the 2007 election campaign – all the more disappointing. The housing strategy is little more than a series of regulatory changes that reduce red tape, simplify convoluted rules and provide municipalities more flexibility to cater to local needs

Tags: homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
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Poverty Eradication Key to Canada’s Economic Recovery

Friday, November 26th, 2010

November 24, 2010
Canada’s economic recovery hinges on federal leadership to pull recession victims out of the poor house and prevent Canadians from plunging into deeper poverty, says Campaign 2000’s new report card on child and family poverty… The child poverty rate of 9.1 per cent is slightly less than when it was 11.9 per cent in 1989. Lessons from past recessions tell us that poverty will rise before the recovery is complete. “… Research has clearly demonstrated that there will be significant economic savings and better health outcomes for all of us if we improve the incomes of people in poverty”

Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, homelessness, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Canada’s hidden emergency: the ‘vulnerably housed’

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

November 22, 2010
Each night, more than 17,000 Canadians sleep in homeless shelters or on the street. But for every person who’s homeless in Canada, there are 23 households that are vulnerably housed and at high risk of becoming homeless… more than 380,000 individuals and families… It’s often during a transition period or crisis that people fall through the cracks in our health and social safety programs…

Tags: homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 1 Comment »

We need a continuum of care for mentally ill offenders

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

November 22, 2010
… more people are entering the forensic system from the courts despite increased use of diversion from the criminal justice system… there is little evidence of an increase in the likelihood of violence by people with serious mental illness than there was 20 years ago. So why the rising pressure? …Deinstitutionalization is undoubtedly the right policy, but to be successful it needs comprehensive services to assist people in the community.

Tags: corrections, crime prevention, featured, homelessness, housing, mental Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

Poorly housed Canadians face same challenges as homeless: study

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

November 20, 2010
People who don’t have a healthy place to live -regardless of whether they are homeless or housed in substandard conditions -are at high risk of experiencing hunger, physical and mental health problems and hospitalization, the study says. They also have problems accessing needed health care. “The real gulf in health outcomes doesn’t lie between people who are homeless and people who aren’t homeless. It’s between those who have continued access to healthy housing and those who don’t.”

Tags: Health, homelessness, housing, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
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The homelessness and housing crisis in Canada

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

November 13, 2010
“Canada is inching closer to a long overdue and much-needed national affordable housing plan. Bill C-304, draft legislation to create a national plan that was proposed by Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East, is back for the second round of debate on third reading on Nov. 18. Then the Commons is scheduled to vote on Nov. 24. The Wellesley Institute’s Precarious Housing in Canada 2010 sets out the need, and the framework, for a national housing plan… Advocates hope that the bill will get third and final reading vote before the House rises for the holidays on Dec. 17.”