Steep housing prices lead to high staff turnover at Yukon non-profit

The lack of affordable housing in Whitehorse is one reason why at least one Yukon non-profit group says it's having difficulty retaining employees.
Read more [CBC - North]

$16.3 Million Committed to Revitalization of Saskatoon's Pleasant Hill Area

News Release - May 13, 2008

Premier Brad Wall today announced his government's decision to commit $8.3 million for the construction of a new St. Mary Community School, daycare and wellness centre in Saskatoon's Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.

The community school project will be the focal point for a larger revitalization of Pleasant Hill including $8 million for the development of affordable housing in co-operation with local community groups.
Read more [Nation Talk - native newswire]

Habitat for Humanity gets $500,000 for housing

Housing Minister Rich Coleman committed $500,000 from its $250-million housing endowment fund Monday to help Habitat for Humanity build affordable housing in B.C.
Read more [The Vancouver Sun (West Coast News)]

Burnaby gets affordable housing

Burnaby will be home to a new, affordable home-ownership project aimed at low- to-moderate-income earners.
Read more [The Province]

Fraser Institute defines poverty out of existence...

There are two ways to reduce poverty:

The best way is to get money into the hands of low-income people and adopt other practical and effective measures, such as affordable housing, education and training and so on. The other way is to define poverty out of existence by statistical sleight of hand: Tell the poor, and everyone else, that the poor aren’t really poor, and hope that they just go away.

The Fraser Institute, the private-market-obsessed policy institute, opted for numerical dexterity as it published its latest research paper on poverty in Canada. Author Christopher Sarlo makes the astonishing claim that poverty in Canada has shrunk to a statistically tiny level in recent years.

Housing vigils grow across the province

The protests started with a group of neighbours taking a stand about losing their 224-unit Little Mountain social housing complex in Vancouver.
Read more [The Vancouver Sun (West Coast News)]

Conference to focus on mental illness, addiction

VANCOUVER - Mayor Sam Sullivan hopes that a city-organized conference on mental illness and addiction starting today will help spur the province to make sure there is enough money for support and services in the new social housing it's building.
Read more [The Vancouver Sun (West Coast News)]

Free Trading USA

Intermingled amongst brand new hotels and entertainment swag are the ghosts of New Orleans. Abandoned buildings with boarded up windows are on every side street off Canal. Hidden only by the busy flickering of neon lights and bars begging for your undeserved business. One needs only to turn to any of the buildings behind the flashy palm trees to see Katrina leftovers.

Hidden also, though beating through the heart of this city is its intense poverty and racism. It is swept under the bridges and sheltered in back alleys. It is beaten away from the sight of tourists and entertainers by batons and vacational apathy.

While thousands await the return to their native city, hundreds lining its streets in shelters and tents, the busy Bourbon street continue to party. Quite a bit of thought and design went into the sweeping away of the life and reality of this city. Benches in the entertainment district- the French Quarter- are curved downward to make them impossible to sleep on. Similarly benches at major tourist squares are dividied by bars to prevent lying down. Lights are granted only there where the tourist industry wants foreign attention. The resistance to the gentrification, systemic discrimination, and outright ethnic cleansing is conveniently relocated.

Subsidized and affordable housing has been sustaining an intense attack by the city, the state, the government, and private enterprise. Demolitions have forced hundreds onto the streets and eviction notices are handed out like pamphlets. Once enough people are evicted, the housing is torn down to build hotels, condominium apartments, and bars.

read more

Raise your voice in Toronto's housing consultation

The City of Toronto is building a 10-year housing strategy called Housing Opportunities Toronto. The city's plan was launched one year after the Wellesley Institute released our Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto, which includes both the basic 10-year plan plus a much-more-detailed framework document with lots of background material. We've prepared a number of backgrounders on the HOT proposal, including recommendations to Toronto's 2008 budget process to finance the housing plan.

The City of Toronto has announced a series of public meetings to hear recommendations about the HOT plan. These include:

Wednesday, May 14 – Scarborough Civic Centre, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28 – North York Civic Centre, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Wednesday, June 4 – Etobicoke Civic Centre, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Monday, June 16 – Affordable Housing Committee                       
Deputations – 1:30 p.m., City Hall, Committee Room 2

Media Advisory

CALGARY, April 23 - Member of Parliament James Bezan, on behalf of the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Chief Garnet Woodhouse and Pinaymootang Councillors and Community, will open a new 34 unit subdivision of affordable housing for Aboriginal Families living on reserve.

<<
Date: April 24, 2008

Time: 11:00 a.m.

Location: Pinaymootang Reserve
Fairford, MB, R0C 0X0
>>


For further information: Kimberlee Jones, CMHC, Calgary, (403) 515-3048; Florence Woodhouse, Pinaymootang First Nation, (204) 659-5705
Read more [Nation Talk - native newswire]

Media Advisory - Home Repair Program to Launch in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY, ON, April 17 - The federal and provincial governments and the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) will celebrate important affordable housing initiatives in Thunder Bay District. Media are invited to join Joe Comuzzi, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North, on behalf of the.....
Read more [Ontario Government News Feed]

24 affordable housing units to be built in Saint John

An affordable housing project in Saint John will provide 24 units for low-income families.
Read more [CBC - New Brunswick]

Affordable housing project won't go ahead

A controversial affordable housing project in Fredericton has been scrapped after the costs for environmental studies became too high for the non-profit developer.
Read more [CBC - New Brunswick]

Don Kossick: Saskatoon's Community Activist of the Year

Dear Friends, Thank you very much for selecting me as community activist of the year. The recognition is truly appreciated. I would also like to recognize the tremendous energy for social change that exists in Saskatoon. The turn out for the walk to support Station 20 West was stupendous. The 2,500 people who walked throught the CORE neighborhoods for justice and equity for all showed the true spirit of this city. Station 20 West will become a reality yet because of this deep desire to make a city that works for everyone. To be on the cutting edge in placemaking that really addresses the right of everyone to food security, good health and affordable housing and the building of bridges between community. With our collective energy We can do that here! In community, Don Kossick
Read more [Making the Links Radio - Saskatoon]

Global Food Costs Continue to Rise; Lawmakers to Probe Into Sewage Research in Poor Neighborhoods

Haiti's Hunger Felt Around the Globe
Not just in Haiti, the global food prices continue to soar out of the reach of families across the world. Economist, Jeffrey D. Sachs say, “It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years." New York Times.

Less Hours for Workers, More Evidence of Recession
Not news to workers already feeling all the effects of a recession, there is new data that says an often overlooked cause is that hours are being cut. New York Times.

Harlem Residents Worried About Rezoning Plan
Despite including affordable housing and building height rules in the plan, many Harlem residents worry that the new development will force poor people out of the historic Black district. Gothamist.

Lawmakers Look Into Sewage Sludge Research
After an AP report on Sunday, three more lawmakers will probe into news that sewage was spread on the lawns of nine low-income families in Baltimore and a vacant lot next to an elementary school in East St. Louis to see if lead in the soil from chipped paint and car exhausts would bind to the sludge. Associated Press.

WEB EXTRA: Canadians turning attention to infrastructure issues

Canadians rate issues of municipal infrastructure higher than the environment, education, border security or help for aboriginal people, according to a survey published Tuesday by the country's municipal lobby group. The survey -- conducted by the Strategic Counsel for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities -- showed concern not only for road maintenance and repair but also for affordable housing.
Read more [Winnipeg Free Press]

Montreal buys up slum buildings

The City of Montreal says two slum apartment complexes in Ahuntsic have been bought by a private developer and the island's housing corporation, which will convert them into condominiums and social housing.
Read more [CBC - Montreal]

City revising EcoDensity draft to ensure low-cost housing built in

Vancouver residents need to hear more about how EcoDensity is going to provide affordable housing, the city's top planners told city council Tuesday.

Poverty activists to complain to UN

The battle over social housing for Vancouver's poorest residents is moving to a new battlefield -- the United Nations, which will be asked to weigh a human-rights complaint against Canada for failing to protect low-cost rooms.

Downtown Eastside beef bound for the UN

VANCOUVER -- The battle over social housing for Vancouver's poorest residents is moving to a new battlefield. The United Nations will be asked shortly to weigh a human-rights complaint against Canada for failing to protect low-cost rooms.
Read more [Times Colonist News Feed]