Editorial: Canada Needs a to Give Homelessness a Formal Address
Homelessness in Montreal is no secret.
You might be inclined to turn your face away from the dirty shame of capitalism, but the problem remains: existing in an end-game capitalist society leaves many on the fringes.
Those who find themselves at odds with our current societal structure are swept under the collective rug. For many, this means living on the streets; this means being ignored.
But hey, it’s not your problem, right? You’re just one person, right?
Wrong—we, as a society, are responsible for the wellbeing of those cast aside by capitalism. It is our fault, all of us so-called “contributing” members of society, that rush our way past outstretched cups each day, and it is our duty to rectify this.
Rectify, by the way, in the true sense—as in, “fix homelessness.” Have you ever considered that? Homelessness isn’t a necessary aspect of urban living.
As of a 2015 count, there are just over 3,000 homeless people in Montreal, with an estimated 235,000 across Canada—nearly one per cent of the overall population.
That number is closer to 600,000 in the States. Approximately one million people across continental North America are sleeping on the streets at any given time. It’s no wonder we’re inclined to turn our faces away—a sight like that ain’t pretty.
To reiterate—this doesn’t have to be our reality. As recently as the late 1950s, Canada’s homelessness problem was undeniably smaller.
Through a concerted public and political interest, adequate and affordable housing was on the docket and ensured. It was only during trade liberalization and deindustrialization of the ‘80s and ‘90s, when public interest swayed toward a collection of neo-liberalization policies that this reality shifted.
These new administrative tactics favoured “smaller government,” lower taxes, and suddenly, national housing strategies were being dismantled, and systemic poverty was booming.
With the recent Economic Action Plan 2014, Canada is promising to “renew and refocus” the Homelessness Partnering Strategy, injecting $600 million toward finding sustainable, long-term housing, while making the vague promise of “providing necessary supports.”
Despite these positive words, places like Montreal are still making decisions that are tone-deaf to the needs of its citizens, such as refusing to open emergency shelters at anything “warmer” than -15 C.
Though Canada’s intentions may be good, homelessness will remain a systemic problem until we return it to the political table, and make it a serious part of the public conversation.
Currently, all we have are band-aid solutions. Montreal collects millions in taxpayer money every year; Canada collects billions, and we’re all plenty happy to see it go to our healthcare or road repairs.
But, in reality, offering reliable mental health resources, affordable or public housing and free education will do just what so many other nations have done.
Canada needs to respect the public enough to make serious investments in society as a whole, rather than adding too-little-too-late band-aids to systemic issues.
