Yule Heibel's personal annotations on this page
Lampertina bookmarked
on 2008-02-04
"Canada is the only major country that doesn't have a national housing strategy, the report notes." The article deals specifically with Toronto and Ontario, but most of what it argues holds for every desirable (and expensive) city (including Victoria) in Canada. This article, by Laurie Monsebraaten, is followed up by a second one from the same day; see http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/299928 "The long wait for affordable places to live" by Tanya Talaga.
-
Tomorrow's report card comes two weeks after Canada's largest municipalities reported that incomes are not keeping pace with the rising cost of housing and called on Ottawa to craft a national plan.
Under the 2001 federal-provincial housing deal, Ottawa agreed to spend $680 million over five years if the provinces matched the federal funds. Ottawa added $320 million in 2003 and brought the total federal-provincial funding promised to $2 billion.
But federal-provincial spending data collected by the Wellesley Institute shows that spending on housing in 2007 was roughly the same as in 2001. (This doesn't include a one-time $1.4 billion federal payment to the provinces in 2007, the result of a deal struck between the previous Paul Martin government and the NDP to ensure passage of the 2005 budget.)
"This means that, across the country, instead of a net new $2 billion in housing funding, as promised in 2001, any new housing funding has either replaced previous dollars or not even been made," the report says.
Wednesday's meeting is the first time in more than two years the housing ministers have met. Federal Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg has not yet confirmed his attendance and if he doesn't show up, it will be the first time in almost a decade that Ottawa hasn't been represented at such a gathering, Shapcott says.
-
During the last provincial housing ministers' meeting held outside Halifax in 2005, Ottawa and the provinces agreed to work quickly on a national federal-provincial housing strategy with goals, timetables and long-term funding.
Little has happened in the interim. As a result, all current federal housing programs are set to expire by March next year.
-
This week's meeting comes in the wake of last fall's fact-finding visit by the UN's Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, who called on the federal government to work with the provinces to implement and fund a comprehensive national housing strategy to meet the housing needs of Canadians.
Canada is the only major country that doesn't have a national housing strategy, the report notes.
This link has been bookmarked by 2 people . It was first bookmarked on 04 Feb 2008, by Yule Heibel.
-
Yule Heibel
"Canada is the only major country that doesn't have a national housing strategy, the report notes." The article deals specifically with Toronto and Ontario, but most of what it argues holds for every desirable (and expensive) city (including Victoria) in Canada. This article, by Laurie Monsebraaten, is followed up by a second one from the same day; see http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/299928 "The long wait for affordable places to live" by Tanya Talaga.
-
Tomorrow's report card comes two weeks after Canada's largest municipalities reported that incomes are not keeping pace with the rising cost of housing and called on Ottawa to craft a national plan.
Under the 2001 federal-provincial housing deal, Ottawa agreed to spend $680 million over five years if the provinces matched the federal funds. Ottawa added $320 million in 2003 and brought the total federal-provincial funding promised to $2 billion.
But federal-provincial spending data collected by the Wellesley Institute shows that spending on housing in 2007 was roughly the same as in 2001. (This doesn't include a one-time $1.4 billion federal payment to the provinces in 2007, the result of a deal struck between the previous Paul Martin government and the NDP to ensure passage of the 2005 budget.)
"This means that, across the country, instead of a net new $2 billion in housing funding, as promised in 2001, any new housing funding has either replaced previous dollars or not even been made," the report says.
Wednesday's meeting is the first time in more than two years the housing ministers have met. Federal Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg has not yet confirmed his attendance and if he doesn't show up, it will be the first time in almost a decade that Ottawa hasn't been represented at such a gathering, Shapcott says.
-
During the last provincial housing ministers' meeting held outside Halifax in 2005, Ottawa and the provinces agreed to work quickly on a national federal-provincial housing strategy with goals, timetables and long-term funding.
Little has happened in the interim. As a result, all current federal housing programs are set to expire by March next year.
- 1 more annotations...
-
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.