THUNDER BAY -- As Canada builds its first-ever housing strategy, local advocates want assurance the federal strategy will work with provincial and municipal efforts to combat homelessness and provide housing for all.
Although no more than two dozen people attended the federal housing strategy consultation at the Moose Hall on Friday, the public interest overwhelmed organizers, who ran out of questionnaires.
Most of the attendees either lived or worked on the front lines of a social system they argued is struggling to coordinate program funding to reach its targets.
Bonnie Krysowaty is the co-ordinator of Thunder Bay and District's Poverty Reduction Strategy and the social researcher at the Lakehead Social Planning Council. Where she sees coordinated efforts in other cities,she sees them succeeding but locally, she's seeing programs with proven success struggle for annual program renewal and even shut down.
She pointed to Medicine Hat, Alta., the community that ended homelessness by applying Housing First principles and combining its municipal, provincial and federal funding with directed objectives.
"(Medicine Hat) was successful because they had enough money in the pot to do what they needed to do," Krysowaty said.
"It was also a coordinated effort so it wasn't different levels of government deciding what they should do with the monies.That's not happening in Thunder Bay at all."
Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario president Mary Veltri added Indigenous peoples face unique challenges that are impacting other social determinants of health because of living conditions both on and off-reserve.
"I think some of the barriers are just a lack of affordable housing in our housing stock and also the lack of financial resources that Indigenous people coming into the city are experiencing," Veltri said.
"Then there's also discrimination. A lot of people trying to get an apartment report they've been denied getting an apartment because tehy're Inidengous and they're not necessarily able to challenge that."
Shelter House executive Gary Mack is optimistic a coordinated plan to build affordable housing is finally underway on all three levels of government. He asserted the will exists within organizations on all levels and is "extremely optimistic" over the opportunity to work together.
"I think what we're really waiting for at this time is for the funds to start flowing. We're all ready to move. It's just a matter of accessing the money to do it," Mack said.
"I run a shelter where we're worried about keeping our staff paid and our lights on. We're totally underfunded."
Patty Hajdu was in Mack's position at Shelter House before was elected MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North. She has made the case many times that housing is a right and is relishing the chance to contribute on a policy level to the housing strategy.
"From my perspective, it's not just a right. It's a foundational piece for all of us to succeed," Hajdu said.
"I often say, good social policy is good fiscal policy. When everybody has the opportunity to thrive, when everybody has those basic needs met, they have an opportunity to contribute as well. People start to contribute in all kinds of ways, whether it's creative ways or economic ways and all of our communities are healthier when people have affordable housing."
As a first-term MP, Thunder Bay-Rainy River member Don Rusnak expressed frustration over the relationship between the political and bureaucratic arms of the federal government but he was also optimistic those relationships could be improved at across all levels of government to deliver housing programming in the best interest of Canadians.
"Everything we're doing is difficult because we're trying to work in cooperation with the provinces and municipalities and changing the mindsets of bureaucrats at all levels is difficult," Rusnak said.
"It's going to take time. Relationship-building is extremely important and that's what I've been doing."
