Last week, I was in Yellowknife, where I released results of new research on affordable housing in the Northwest Territories (NWT). The research project was sponsored by the Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada, and was a collaboration with the Centre for Northern Families.

Research findings include the following:

When resident Terry Theriault has to move out of her 3 bedroom house next year, she’s already given up any hope of ever returning to Regent Park. “You knew all along that they weren’t bringing the people back,” says Theriault who lives with her two daughters in a subsidized 3 bedroom house. “My big toe couldn’t fit into one of these (condominiums).”

On a dull late spring Saturday morning at Regent and Dundas in Toronto, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and supporters have come to Regent Park with a clear message: We must defend the communities we live in and stop their being obliterated by developers and the politicians that serve their interests.

Behind them, roughly 19 months after the ground-breaking ceremony, sits the 293-suite One Cole Condominiums with prices starting from $189,000 for a 497 sq.ft. studio that’s roughly the size of a two car garage. One Cole has suites in two separate buildings: the 9-storey West Building has 92 suites and the East building has 19-storeys with 201 suites.