[HPN] Canada budget countdown 17 Feb - Toronto Disaster Relief Committee MEDIA ADVISORY Committee MEDIA ADVISORY

[Tom Boland]

FWD  CC REPLIES TO: Michael Shapcott <mshapcot@web.net>

TDRC budget countdown - Feb. 17


Toronto Disaster Relief Committee
Media advisory
February 14, 2000

Where's our housing? TDRC federal budget countdown
Thursday, February 17th @ 11:00 a.m. / Church of the Holy Trinity

The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee and its allies are counting down to
the federal budget with a special event at the Church of the Holy Trinity,
11 Trinity Square (next to the Eaton Centre), on February. 17th at 11 a.m.

Speakers include:

- Rt. Rev. Ann Tottenham, Anglican Bishop
- Linda Torney, President, Labour Council of Toronto and York Region,
- Cathy Crowe, street nurse and founding member, Toronto Disaster Relief
Committee
- John Andras, businessman and housing developer
- City Cllr. Jack Layton, Vice-President of the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities

* * *

"They keep coughing, is it tuberculosis?" - a homeless tale

By Beric German

Homeless people and housing advocates await the new century. The old
century has brought depression, compulsive drug use, the spread of
tuberculosis, hepatitis C and AIDs/HIV - all associated with homelessness.

Every night thousands of men and women curl up in crowded shelters. Many
cannot sleep, a difficult thing to do among strangers. They lay awake
thinking: "Who is in the next bed?" "Do they have the flu?" "They keep
coughing, is it tuberculosis?" "Why is that man walking around?" "That
fight last night, it was terrifying! Will it happen again?" "My stuff was
stolen." "People have scabies and lice." "What is that smell?" "Who is
talking in their sleep?" "Who is snoring?" "Who is crying?" "I can't stand
it anymore." "Tomorrow night I'll stay outside even if it's cold." "Hell, I
won't wait till morning. I'll leave now."

And what about the children living in motels and hostels? What will their
experience of homelessness do to them? They are suffering in their
formative years - a foreboding thought. Will they carry their injuries for
the next half century?

Will the federal budget on February 28th send a signal across Canada - that
the disaster of homelessness will end? How much money is needed? Right now,
federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments in Canada only
spend about one percent of their overall budgets on housing.

The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) and many others are calling on
all these governments to double their spending to two percent. We call this
the One Percent Solution. This would cost about $2 billion a year for the
federal government - which works out to about 50 cents per taxpayer per
day. A major initiative to end homelessness for less than the price of a
cup of coffee - sounds like pretty good deal.

Beric German works for Street Health and is a founding member of TDRC.


-------------------------------

Housing for all

The One Percent Solution - a national
strategy to end homelessness in Canada

Michael Shapcott
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
E-mail - mshapcot@web.net

http://www.housingagain.web.net

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