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NATIONAL COALITION ON HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

For Immediate Release                                  Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Housing Coalition Welcomes Budget Agreement

Toronto:           Canada’s major coalition of housing stakeholders and advocacy organizations expressed delight that new money for affordable housing has apparently been included in the budget deal struck by the federal Liberals and the NDP.

Prime Minister Martin and Opposition leader Jack Layton announced today that they had struck an accord to amend the government’s budget by reducing targeted corporate tax cuts and increasing allocations for social spending, which, according to Layton, will include the funds dedicated to affordable housing.

The National Coalition on Housing and Homelessness includes a wide array of organizations committed to providing permanent solutions to Canada’s housing crisis.

“We have always taken heart from the fact that the Bloc, the NDP and the governing Liberal Party of Canada all campaigned in the last election on strong affordable housing platforms,” said Jim Marshall, spokesperson for the Coalition.

“We were surprised to see the Liberal promise of $1.5 billion for new affordable housing go unfunded in the original budget -- so we are delighted with this new development,” added Marshall.

CMHC, the government’s own housing agency, continues to report huge surpluses – $950 million for 2004 alone. The National Coalition on Housing and Homelessness has pressed the federal government to re-invest these surpluses in desperately needed social housing for low-income Canadians.

According to CMHC, an estimated 1.7 million Canadian households are still living in inadequate housing or are paying far more than they can reasonably afford for housing. This compares to 1.3 million households when Prime Minister Paul Martin and Housing Minister Joe Fontana wrote their ground breaking housing policy paper in 1990. The Coalition believes the federal government should commit the funds required to produce 25,000 units of primarily co-op and non-profit housing every year.

“Thank goodness reason prevailed,” said Marshall. “Canadians need to see real progress on social housing. We don’t need another time out for an election. This revised budget should be passed.”

Coalition membership includes, The United Church of Canada, the Canadian Housing Renewal Association, the Co-operative Housing Federal of Canada, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, the National Housing and Homelessness Network, the Ontario Non Profit Housing Association, The National Anti Poverty Organization, the National Aboriginal Housing Association, the Anglican Church of Canada, and FRAPRU of Quebec.

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