OTTAWA — Disappointed co-operative housing advocates plan a campaign this winter to try to convince the Liberal government to put some money behind its oft-repeated promise of support for social housing.
Last week, they were accusing the government of betraying pre-election promises to provide “stable and secure funding” for the co-op housing sector.
Despite expectations, they found no new money in the Feb. 22 budget to re-establish the federal government role in creating new co-op housing units.
Disapproval expressed
“The Liberal government’s complete abandonment of the ill-housed and low income people in Canada is totally unacceptable,” Co-op Housing Federation of Canada (CHFC) president Marcel Lefebvre said in a statement issued from the federation’s Ottawa head office.
Read Also
British Columbia farmers to receive increased AgriStability supports
B.C. farmers to receive bump in AgriStability compensations due to weather concerns, international trade instability
Danielle Cecile, director of sector development for the CHFC, said in an interview that a $15 million annual federal commitment would be enough to build 5,000 units each year.
“We think that is the minimum need,” she said. “Believe me, we’re not going to abandon the idea that the federal government should be involved here.”
She said co-op housing advocates will be trying to get the issue on the agenda when federal and provincial housing ministers meet in June. In the meantime, the federation board of directors will meet soon to devise a strategy for keeping up the pressure.
In opposition, the Liberals were highly critical of Conservative cuts in social and co-op housing funding.
During a House of Commons debate on the issue in February, the minister responsible, David Dingwall, said that $120 million in savings pledged by federal and provincial housing ministers at a January meeting will be used to support the social housing sector.
Cecile said the commitment is useful for maintaining the country’s existing stock of social housing but it will not add to the total. Some of the saving will come from increasing the amount that poor people have to pay for their social housing, she said: “We do not agree with this approach.”
The co-op housing lobby insists the Liberals have a political obligation to increase the money for such a program.
