Some of the people who have been active in housing issues in Calgary (particularly as members of CHAI) are running in upcoming elections. These people have shown a commitment to real work on the issues.

I encourage you to support their campaigns — they all need more volunteers and donors. I also encourage you to come out to their campaign events (some upcoming ones are listed below). Given that one of the biggest obstacles to real solutions for housing has been the various levels of government, getting these housing advocates elected is very much in our interest for dealing with the housing crisis.

(Please don’t take the following as endorsements of any particular political party. The provincial candidates listed include the Liberals and NDP, and I myself have run for the Greens. CHAI is not non-partisan, but we are multi-partisan.)

Grant Neufeld
Coordinator, Calgary Housing Action Initiative

Municipal Election Candidates (October 15)

• Jennifer Banks, running for City Councillor in Ward 1
• Joe Ceci, incumbent City Councillor in Ward 9
• Brian Pincott, running for City Councillor in Ward 11

Provincial Election Candidates (maybe in the spring?)

• Kent Hehr, running for the Liberals in Calgary Buffalo
• Julie Hrdlicka, running for the NDP in Calgary Fort

The discussion here is used as a reference in the August 24, 2007, article Homelessness is not a Crime at the Calgary Drop-in & Rehab. Centre Blog.

Summary of the business plan for Municipal Affairs and Housing Ministry.

In brief:

• 100 million dollars for affordable housing for the year.
• Includes maintenance of existing properties owned or managed by the province.
• Their plan includes the development of just 306 new affordable housing units in the province this year.

A few things to note:

• The $100 million represents just 0.29% of the total budget—far short of the “1% solution”.
• Rehabilitation and maintenance of existing highways in the province is receiving more than 3.5 times as much funding as affordable housing.
• Calgary is in desperate need of thousands of new units.
• The 306 new units across the province are not solely funded by the province, but also other sources—including the federal government.

The clear message is that housing is not a real priority for the current provincial government.

Edited by Grant Neufeld on Friday, April 20, 2007, 11:03 AM.

Encouraging news: Some details of the report of the provincial government's Affordable Housing Task Force have been leaked.

What we've heard so far includes:

• 2 years of rent control.
• A minimum of 1 year notice for condo conversion (instead of the current 6 months), with a freeze on rent increases during that year.

Here's a link to the Calgary Herald article on this.

WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

If you have been directly affected by massive rent increases (doubling or more), and are willing to talk with the media about this issue, please contact me today so I can try to line up interviews. I've already had calls on this.
Email: grant@housingaction.ca
Phone: 262-2934

Please call your provincial government representative (MLA) office to encourage them to support the recommendations for rent control and condo control. We have information on how to figure out who your MLA is, and how to contact them.

IN THE DAYS TO COME

We're expecting the full report to be officially released later this week. If you have ideas on how to support the good parts, please post them here. (Just reply to this topic.)

If you are willing to talk to the media in general about how you've personally been affected by the housing crisis, please contact Jennifer McVeigh (our Community Engagement Facilitator).
Email: admin@housingaction.ca
Phone: 270-3200

See the discussion in the Action Ideas forum.