Yay! The rain held off! I can't believe how much I'm paying attention to the state of the weather. If it doesn't rain I feel so much better. Usually I don't worry about weather -- but being outside for hours at a time makes a difference. It makes me appreciate that I get to go home every night and put my feet up and be warm. Not so for many I talked with today at Main and Hastings. We also talked about the issue of a billion dollars for Olympic security. Imagine what housing could be built with that. I met several people who are laid off because of the Olympics. They work part time in BC Place Stadium, but because of the Olympics, have been laid off. I'm not sure if this applies to all staff there. But one woman said she fell just short of enough weeks to collect EI. Crazy.
The 3rd Annual POVERTY OLYMPICS will be held Feb 7 in the Downtown Eastside -- I'll add more info on it in a later blog and on my website. I plan to attend.
I've also had many comments on Harper's proroguing of Parliament -- people are quite clear why he did it: to try and avoid further questions on Afghanistan and side step the Opposition on this and other issues.
I continue to gather support for Bill C304 - the Bill for a National Housing strategy. Folks ask if it is really possible to get this Bill approved and I reply - YES! I encourage people to contact Conservative Members of Parliament and tell them they should support this Bill. The Libs and BQ have so far shown good support - but its unbelievable that only ONE Conservative MP voted in favour of it at 2nd Reading in September. The Bill has great support across the country, from local municipalities, to major housing organizations, faith groups, unions, and First Nations - so I hope we can get the message through to more MP's that this Bill is needed more than ever.
This blog is cross-posted at http://libbydavies.ca
Housing is a provincial responsibility under the constitution.
Bill C304, even if passed, will not result in giving anybody access to affordable housing without the concurrence of the housing ministers of the provinces. All the bill requires is that the Minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation consult with the provincial ministers of municipal affairs and housing, and with representatives of municipalities and Aboriginal communities, to establish a national housing strategy.
The bill doesn't even explicitly require the federal government to spend any money on housing, or to implement any rent subsidy or other affordability programs. Nor does it require the various parties involved in the consultations to agree with the housing strategy set out in the bill, or to implement any part of it.
Bill C304 is nothing more than a statement of good intentions. Whether the provincial and federal ministers responsible share those good intentions is a matter of conjecture, and in my opinion, is highly unlikely.