Housing and the Municipal Election

You are being bombarded with candidates knocking at the door; campaign "literature" overflows your mailbox and blows down the street; and that nice view that you are familiar with is obscured by election signs. And I won't even mention the stadium.

With all this going on it is easy to lose sight of the fact that there are important issues at stake in the October 25th municipal election; rental housing policies and practices for example.

Tenant advocates working on the Solutions for Housing Action Committee (SHAC) have put together a questionnaire for candidates.

SHAC, a grassroots community group with a 25 year history, believes that housing is a right. In fact, it is guaranteed under the United Nations Covenant on Social and Economic Rights which Canada signed on to 1948.

Here are five commitments SHAC would like from candidates:

1. A regulatory regime for all landlords in Hamilton should be implemented. It should include compulsory annual inspections that will ensure compliance with property standard by-laws.

2. A moratorium on condo conversions is required. Rental housing stock in the city has been depleted. One reason this is happening is that Council usually approves requests for conversion of rental properties to condominium ownership.

3. A full review is needed of the Access to Housing wait list and the various citizen and advisory committees that are associated with it. The waiting list is growing faster in Hamilton than almost anywhere else in the province. It is imperative that effectiveness and transparency of the City's housing responsibilities be achieved.

4. A city wide inventory of existing housing must be compiled to inform future planning for adequate and accessible housing. While this is a long standing request, there is still no public listing of the number of universally accessible and modified units or units suitable for low income singles or units appropriate for larger families.

5. The eviction prevention policy negotiated between housing advocates and City Housing Hamilton (CHH) should be fully enforced. The recent review of Toronto Housing Corporation's eviction policies following the death of 82 year old tenant Al Gosling show how important such policies are.

It is hoped that you'll engage the candidates on these issues. There are other important issues, to be sure, but it is fair to say that housing policies affect all of us. Housing is, to quote the City's Official Plan, "fundamental to the economic, social and physical well-being of Hamilton's residents and communities."

One opportunity to engage the candidates for Mayor on housing issues will be on Monday October 4th at the Jamesville Community Centre 209 MacNab Street North.  The meeting starts at 1:30.

                        (This story originally appeared in North End Breezes)