To make this tent a home

Canada needs a national housing strategy, and it needs it five years ago.

I’ve heard this statement repeated over the past eight weeks from a variety of Winnipeg community organizations.

On Tuesday, Oct. 19, the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPCW) helped take this statement to the Manitoba Legislature through the Red Tent Campaign.

“We [pitched] 14 red tents on the legislature grounds, one for every Member of Parliament in Manitoba,” said Sandy Gessler, chair of the SPCW board.

This act was to show support for Bill C-304, the Secure, Adequate, Accessible and Affordable Housing Act brought forward by NDP MP Libby Davies from Vancouver East. This bill went through a second reading in Parliament Sept. 30, 2009.

In the absence of a national strategy, community organizations like the Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA) work to provide safe housing in Winnipeg’s downtown and west end.

“The federal government needs to recommit dollars to a national housing plan,” said Kate Sjoberg, former executive director of the SNA.

This statement was echoed by Karen Hoeft, assistant executive director in community relations for the Salvation Army.

“We would like to see a national housing strategy, as well as a provincial and city component with city zoning,” said Hoeft. “The city needs to zone housing that people on fixed incomes can pay for.”

This notion of providing housing for all members of society, including those with fixed incomes, is important when considering government intervention in the housing market.

Those living on a fixed income may have just as much demand for housing as someone with the means to pay for it, but are unable to exercise that choice in the marketplace.

If the market can’t provide enough housing for all members of society, then there is an opportunity for government to step in and provide this good.

Canadian taxpayers spend between $4.5 billion and $6 billion a year dealing with homelessness through emergency calls and damages to businesses, notes journalist Gordon Laird in his 2007 report “Shelter: Homelessness in a Growth Economy.” Released by Calgary’s Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, this report estimates homelessness cost Canada $49.5 billion to $66 billion between 1997 and 2004.

Add to these figures the fact that Canada is the only G8 nation that does not have a national housing strategy, and it is not surprising that I’ve heard this message repeatedly across a variety of Winnipeg organizations.