Montreal Gazette

Housing is human right, say advocates

- Terry Pedwell

OTTAWA • The federal Liberal government needs to make good on its promise to declare housing a “fundamenta­l human right” under Canadian law as part of its forthcomin­g national housing strategy, advocates said Tuesday.

Without such a declaratio­n, the legislatio­n that’s expected to be unveiled this fall that will bring that strategy into force will be rendered toothless, said Tim Richter, president of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessne­ss.

“The federal government has committed to the right to housing, but to make this commitment meaningful, it must be recognized in law,” Richter told an Ottawa press conference where he released an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, signed by a coalition of more than 170 prominent Canadians and organizati­ons.

The letter spells out demands that new legislatio­n require “goals and timelines” for reducing and eliminatin­g homelessne­ss.

It also called on the government to ensure its housing bill is consistent with internatio­nal human rights obligation­s, and that the Liberals act to realize the right to housing within the shortest possible time, depending on how much money the government has at its disposal.

The prime minister announced details last fall of his government’s decadelong national housing strategy, including the introducti­on of a housing benefit for families that won’t kick in until after the 2019 federal election.

The strategy also included a promise to introduce new legislatio­n requiring the government to report to Parliament on housing targets and outcomes, as well as a commitment that 100,000 new affordable housing units would be built and another 300,000 existing affordable housing units repaired.

Canada is already a signatory to the UN-backed Internatio­nal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognizes “adequate” housing as a right.

But declaring such a right domestical­ly would ensure that government­s, both federal and provincial, can’t back out of affordable housing commitment­s on a political whim, said Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing.

There have been concerns expressed among critics of such a move — including some Liberals — that declaring housing a right in law could encourage people to use the court system to obtain better housing, or to argue that their rights were violated should they be evicted for failing to pay rent.

But legally enshrining a right to housing would show that all Canadians deserve the right to security, good health and safety in the form of adequate housing, said NDP housing critic Sheri Benson.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada