Day two (Thursday) of Canada’s national housing and homelessness conference – which has brought 600-plus advocates, academics, experts to Calgary – featured a powerful keynote from author Richard Wagamese. the opening keynote (see yesterday’s blog) from University of Toronto housing expert Dr. David Hulchanski gave a dynamic overview and Richard provided the street-level perspective. He […]
Housing
Day one of Canada's national housing / homelessness conference: Federal minister speaks, but precious little is said
It’s day one of Canada’s national housing and homelessness conference, and more than 600 eager delegates packed the MacEwan Conference Centre at the University of Calgary. A pre-conference rumour raised a frisson of excitement among the housing experts, academics, service and housing providers, federal, provincial and municipal officials and – of course – people who […]
BC housing dollars don't match their promises
The Government of British Columbia promised in its Throne Speech on Monday that it would be ramping up spending on housing and homelessness – and those words caused a flurry of excitement in Calgary as almost 700 delegates to the national housing and homelessness conference began to gather. After all, on a per capita basis, […]
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Housing bill of rights introduced in Canadian Parliament
Just days after Canada was criticized at the United Nations' Human Rights Council in Geneva for failing to meet its international housing obligations, a new National Housing Bill of Rights has been introduced in Canada's House of Commons by MP Libby Davies (NDP – Vancouver East). Bill C-304 , a Private Member's Bill, seeks to […]
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WI-HAN 3rd annual municipal budget forum on housing / homelessness: Friday, Feb. 6
Mark your calendars and plan to attend the third annual Wellesley Institute – Housing Action Now municipal budget forum. Toronto’s $8 billion-plus municipal budget will be released in draft form on February 10, and city councillors will finalize the budget in about one month. On Friday, February 6, from 9 am to 1 pm, there […]
Continue ReadingWI-HAN 3rd annual municipal budget forum on housing / homelessness: Friday, Feb. 6
Fed budget 2009: Billions in new housing spending, but not for those who need it the most
This backgrounder provides a first glimpse at housing in federal budget 2009. Additional housing analysis, and analysis of other key issues and concerns, will be released in the coming days by the Wellesley Institute. BILLIONS IN NEW HOUSING DOLLARS, BUT WHO REALLY BENEFITS: Federal budget 2009 promises to deliver billions upon billions of dollars over […]
$2.075b for housing in Tuesday's federal budget???
The federal government is busily leaking all sorts of details about Tuesday’s federal budget – a sharp departure from the usual secrecy that surrounds spending plans – and the latest “leak” from federal housing minister Diane Finley in the Sunday Toronto Star sets out $2.075 billion for housing initiatives. If the spending plans are confirmed […]
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A new New Deal for the US… and the world
As Barack Obama prepares to take his inauguration oath as President of the United States, it’s worth recalling the climatic words from the acceptance speech of Franklin Roosevelt as Democratic presidential candidate in 1932 (he would go on to be the most dynamic US president of the 20th century and, with Lyndon Johnston and a […]
Happy Martin Luther King Day!
Monday is a celebration of the amazing and historic legacy of the U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr – and it's also the day before the amazing and historic inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. President. Many so-called experts are cautioning President-elect Obama to "manage expectations" and otherwise dampen down the major thirst […]
Mental Health and Homelessness: December 4, 2008
More than 130 people attended a special forum on December 4, 2008, on mental health and homelessness at Toronto’s Knox College, co-sponsored by the Wellesley Institute and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Dr. Kim Hopper, a medical anthropologist from New York City; Dr. Bonnie Kirsh from the University of Toronto; and Dr. Paula Goering, from […]
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