HOUSING AND INCOME CRISIS AT CRITICAL JUNCTURE

THESE MUST BE TOP PRIORITIES FOR THIS ELECTION, WRITES KIM JENKINSON

The Ontario election is underway, the stock market is crashing, COVID policies have abated — if not COVID itself — and Ontario, Canada and the rest of the world is facing a housing crisis.

Ukraine is under attack, Yemen continues to be persecuted and Israel and Gaza

are still lobbing missiles at each other.

The world is facing a crisis, humanity is under constant pressure and no time in history has it been more important to work together to try to alleviate some of the big issues.

Housing and income are two of those big issues. Everyone needs safe housing as a basic right, and sufficient income to sustain it.

Housing affordability has rocketed out of reach for so many in just the past five years.

Not only is owning a home now impossible for many people, but renting something on your own is also now out of reach for a large number of people, including seniors, young adults and students fresh out of college.

If you are a low income wage earner, if you are not already living somewhere with a reasonable rent or if you lose your housing in the increasing number of "renovictions," your family can quickly fall into our already very vulnerable social safety net, which itself is in crisis and unable to keep up with the never ending requests for help.

Now bring in an international perspective. Imagine coming from a war-torn country, not speaking English, and receiving 90 days of basic income support.

You need to start working immediately to support yourself and your family. You had a good job at home, but with no English and no understanding of the Canadian job market, you'll be lucky to get what is called a "survival job" by newcomers — likely manual labour and shift work in a factory or warehouse.

Not to mention that to get that job you are going to need someone to watch your kids. You've left family behind, probably your husband and your brothers as they have been conscripted to fight, and you pray for their safety every minute of every day.

You are living with a distant cousin who you have never met before and your two families are on top of each other, suffocating in a house made for one.

This is the current story of the Ukrainians arriving in Canada. The provincial government is in theory responsible for housing, employment and income, some of which was downloaded to the regions and municipalities.

The federal government has recently flirted with the idea of basic income, but for whatever reason it didn't happen — much to the sorrow of the social services and low income families across Canada. And despite there being provincial and federal housing investment strategies in place, the programs to access the money are — in my opinion — so complex and convoluted that getting a project underway takes major assets before you can even start those discussions.

In the coming provincial election, please ask your local candidates: "How are you going to work together with other levels of government to successfully move us forward on income and housing security given these are provincial mandates?"

Big problems can be solved only by working together, and that is the commitment we need from all levels of our politicians.

"Not only is owning a home now impossible for many people, but renting something on your own is also now out of reach for a large number of people."