Reflections on housing and poverty
This month, I had the opportunity to be invited to two community events that connect very closely with my platform. The first of these was a community dialogue on homelessness, hosted by Ray of Hope on March 9th. The second was the premiere screening of the film Living Below the Line, which is an adaptation of the live theatre version premiered in 2022 in Waterloo Region. This screening happened on March 18th at the main branch of the Kitchener Public Library.
At the dialogue at the Ray of Hope, I had the good fortune of meeting our Regional Chair, Karen Redman, at our discussion table. She was not able to stay long, but I was impressed by her commitment to attend and to learn from the lived experiences of those who have experienced homelessness or work with advocacy organizations.
Of all the ideas generated in our brainstorming session, one of them stood out to me. We all observed that homelessness tends to entrench itself in a vicious cycle. Once homeless, it becomes more difficult to find and keep a job, which makes it harder to afford a new place to live, which keeps people on the streets for longer. Our table expressed a wish for mechanisms to catch people when they are first at risk of losing their shelter, whether it is due to escaping domestic violence, sudden loss of employment, illness, or other factors.
Me in action at the Community Dialogue on Homelessness
One of the points in my platform speaks directly to this. For those who are not working, my proposed guaranteed basic income would provide them with approximately $1400 per month, no strings attached. While rents in Waterloo Region have soared in recent years, this is still enough to afford a modest studio apartment and have a little bit of money to spare for essentials. In a very real sense, a basic income can stop people from entering the cycle of homelessness at all.
Another, more grassroots solution that we discussed was providing a way for people who own homes and have extra space to be able to rent those rooms out to people in need. Mostly, an initiative like this suffers from a lack of support to do the matching and to make sure both the homeowner and the person renting a room feel comfortable in such an arrangement. I think there is a real opportunity here for the Region of Waterloo to create a registry for connecting homeowners with extra space with folks needing accommodations for a few months to avoid ending up on the streets.
Turning now to the film screening, it was a deeply moving and powerful experience. The co-creators and filmmakers did an excellent job taking political issues around poverty and making them feel understandable and visceral.
With this issue, there is a complex mix of provincial and federal regulations at play, both contributing to a worsening of quality of life for those living with poverty or a disability. However, the film also illustrates the role that stigma plays in the daily lives of those experiencing poverty. This stigma comes both from the systems of government and social supports, and also from the general public.
How can we begin to tackle the stigma that prevents us from making real progress in reducing poverty? One simple solution is just to put it out in the open; to start talking about it. Watching this film is a great first step. With that goal in mind, my campaign will be hosting a screening of this film (with a Q&A session with some of the co-creators) in May. The date is yet to be confirmed, but stay tuned!
