What can you do?

YOU can do something!

MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2010

What can the next City Council

do about homelessness?

Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH) in the community.

• Oct 15, 2010: ATEH Press Conference to Release Questionnaire Responses- Candidates' Answers 
  NOTE: to extend the opportunity to inform voters, this report has been updated to include & indicate 3 replies provided after the Oct 15th ATEH press conference.
  Chair's Comments on Results   Media Release
  
• Sept 13, 2010: ATEH Press Conference on Election Questions
  Chair's presentation    Candidates' Questionnaire   and report on the Cost of Doing Nothing More Than Current Efforts to End Homelessness    Media Release / Communiqué
• October 7, 2010: So you think you can Mayor, a city-wide Mayoral debate on affordable housing, affordable recreation, affordable transit fares and child care - Debate sponsored by several groups; ATEH is part of this Coalition to Move Ottawa Forward. After the debate the SYTYCM website will continue to follow all Mayoral candidates on social issues.
  
• Oct 5, 2010: Ottawa Vital Signs: ATEH Chair Marion Wright panelist comments on housing
• Sept 28, 2010: People for a Better Ottawa: We All Belong To This City - event where candidates hear from community leaders. ATEH Chair Marion Wright: Comments on municipal housing policy
• Sept 23, 2010: ATEH Vice Chair Dan Sabourin at The Housing Answer press conference

Before deciding how you will vote, please check if candidates will ACT to end homelessness and . . .

1.   Increase affordable housing by 1,000 units each year and invest more municipal resources.

2a.   Reinvest the nearly $80 million dollars being removed from the property tax base by 2018 in new affordable housing and other social services as financial responsibility for social services infrastructure is uploaded back to the province.

 

2b.   Support the “Housing Answer” and starting in 2011 commit at least $15 million of the upload dollars each year for appropriate affordable housing, supportive housing and combating homelessness?

3.   Make a municipal commitment to reduce the number of individuals in emergency shelters by 500 each year.

4.   Actively abide by Ontario’s Human Rights Policy on Rental Housing and NIMBYism.

5.   Ensure the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy is successfully implemented with appropriate funding.

These questions are linked to ATEH targets to end homelessness in 10 years

• Targets should be ‘SMART’: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resourced and Time-bound with a ten year timeline.
• Looking forward to the ten years, we hope to see a community where only 2,000 families and individuals have to use the shelter system each year because of personal emergencies like fires.
• They’d stay for an average of 30 days to find a safe and affordable home. And the social housing waiting list could be reduced to 4,000 households.