Housing is a human right

Poverty doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There needs to be affordable housing; health care; social & income supports; accommodating workplaces; food security, & a standard of living that let's folk thrive.

— Sarah Jama holds the power during an encampment clearing by police in Hamilton.

By now you may have heard Doug Ford’s response when asked by a reporter what the province is doing to help Hamilton deal with unhoused people living in local parks, the city hall parking lot, and the alley behind Whitehern museum adjacent to that very parking lot.

Here’s the clip in case you missed it.

Ford also recently commented that people are living large on Ontario Works (OW). Have a listen to what economics and business teacher and tik tock social justice sensation Frank Domenic has to say about that.

Just to be clear the average person on OW receives $733 per month to cover housing and all expenses. A lone parent with one child to support gets $1,002 a month to try to survive on.

Most people on OW have applied for Ontario Disability Support Payments (ODSP) and are waiting to see if they qualify. It should take three months to find out if you qualify for ODSP, but under Ford wait times have increased exponentially – although the website doesn’t reflect those changes.

Applicants who do qualify for ODSP will see their monthly income increase to $1,200 for an individual and $1,738 for a parent with one child.

And, remember, the majority of those ODSP applicants are women with children leaving abusive relationships often starting over with nothing.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton is $1,603 and $2,055 for a two-bedroom (July 2022). And, if folk on OW or ODSP share accommodation with another person – say to save a little money for food and other luxuries – they have to tell their case worker who then decreases the housing allowance leaving them worse off.

On ODSP folk can earn $1,000 a month before the government implements claw backs. After folk reach that $1,000 threshold, they get to keep $0.25 for every dollar the earned with their labour– the government claws back the remaining $0.75.

And, Ford has already been working on making it much harder to qualify for these social safety nets by privatizing the administrative process creating a poverty reduction strategy that is tantamount to social murder.

Poverty doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There needs to be adequate affordable and accessible housing; complete universal health care including dental and pharmacare; social and income supports; accommodating workplaces; and food security. 

There also needs to be a recognition that people are on ODSP because they are unable to work, but that they still deserve to live with dignity and standard of living that lets them thrive.

While answering the question about encampments Ford raised the fact that his government ‘gave’ Hamilton $27 million for shelters. Sounds like a personal gift from a benevolent uncle instead of far too little from the provincial public tax coffers to solve a complicated, intersectional problem caused by decades of cuts to social safety nets and attacks on good unionized jobs as well as female-centred, caring economy professions.

It’s unclear if the $27 million was intended to fund existing shelters or build new ones. But that point is really mute because shelters are not a solution – homes are, rent caps are, land trusts are, tenants purchasing their buildings are, and putting an end to housing as a passive income leveraged through REITs is a definite solution that needs exploring  – because no one should make massive profits off of something that is a human right and belongs in the social commons.

About 6,000 Hamiltonians are waiting for affordable housing. Hamilton Tiny Shelters (HATS) estimates there are 1,500 unhoused people sleeping in alleyways, parks, woods, medians, and on the pavement.

HATS has designed and built a variety of attractive single unit dwellings each with a door that locks providing privacy and security for the occupant(s) while they access services and find permanent housing.

SJAM [he who can no longer be named, but was so-called ‘Canada’s’ first prime minister] Secondary School closed for good in 2019. Located at the easterly entrance to the city near the Salvation Army and across from the library, market, and Jackson Square, it is an ideal location for a community of tiny houses. They could be set up in the parking lot and on the unused football field.

SJAM could also be renovated to create more permanent housing for unhoused folk, or those living on social assistance, or workers earning a limited income that makes it impossible to pay market rates.

Hamilton Centre NDP MPP Sarah Jama co-founded the Hamilton Encampment Support Network advocating for free, safe, accessible, permanent shelter for the unhoused in 2021.

She continues to be an advocate for houseless and unhoused persons and on her first day at Queen’s Park demanded the Ford government take real steps to end homelessness in Ontario.

“Homelessness is a disability justice issue. We’ve known for years that people without housing are disproportionately disabled, many with multiple health conditions,” stated Jama.

She went on to say, “A recent report revealed that from June to November 2022, 22 people in Hamilton died while experiencing homelessness. This patchwork system doesn’t work. People are best supported when they have access to fixed, permanent housing. Affordable housing with full access to tenant legal protections is critically important because it’s a basic human right. It’s a vital solution to address the homelessness crisis in a meaningful, lasting way.”

There was no answer from Ford when Jama asked if she could call on the conservative government to end homelessness in Hamilton.

And, let’s face it, the silence from the conservatives continues to be deafening.

For those interested, check out an additional  progressive plan to end the housing crisis. One Ford, once again, remains silent on.