Support for our Neighbours in Encampments
MOTION IN SUPPORT OF OUR NEIGHBOURS IN ENCAMPMENTS
WHEREAS Sixty percent of Ontario’s homeless population lives in the GTA — well over 10,000 people. Many are Black, Indigenous, racialized, identify as 2SLGBTQ, women, or are marginalized in other ways because systems of racism and discrimination are among the key drivers that push people into such precarious living conditions.
WHEREAS MPP Bhutila Karpoche and other Toronto NDP MPPs released a statement saying “We are calling on Ford to ensure people in Toronto’s encampments can access permanent housing, and to prevent more people from becoming unhoused.”
WHEREAS Encampments are the result of a decades-long housing crisis caused by public policy that encouraged the financialization of housing while cutting investments in affordable housing and Rent-Geared-to-Income options in the downtown core.
WHEREAS Councillors Gord Perks (Parkdale—High Park), Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre), Paula Fletcher (Toronto—Danforth) and Mike Layton (University—Rosedale) have called on the Federal government to use their authority under the Emergencies Act and expropriate vacant units for permanent housing.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Parkdale—High Park NDP stands with our neighbours living in encampments, affirms their right to live with dignity and agency, and calls on the provincial and federal government to take definitive action to end homelessness.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Parkdale—High Park NDP calls for the provincial government to implement the following measures:
• provide emergency funding for the City of Toronto to boost shelter system capacity
• reinstate the province-wide eviction moratorium and provide rent relief
• properly fund and support supervised consumption sites and harm reduction services in shelters and at community health centres
• implement meaningful income supports geared to cost of living
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Parkdale—High Park NDP calls for the federal government to implement the following measures:
• expropriate vacant units on an emergency basis for permanent housing
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QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles joined MPPs Chris Glover (Spadina—Fort York), Jennifer French (Oshawa), and Bhutila Karpoche (Parkdale—High Park) to raise concerns about the rushed and secretive deal that the Ford government handed over to Therme for Ontario Place.
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