Times Colonist

Right to housing to be mainstay of $40B plan: Duclos

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OTTAWA — The federal minister in charge of a decade-long housing strategy says the plan will be based on a “right to housing” as he faces criticism the Liberals are watering down the pledge.

Characteri­zing housing as a human right was meant to provide recourse — either through tribunals or the courts — to anyone wrongfully denied an apartment or home for reasons such as ethnicity, religion or gender identity.

It was also to put pressure on government­s to maintain their housing commitment­s and ensure a future federal government couldn’t easily cancel the 10-year, multibilli­on-dollar national housing strategy unveiled in November.

The federal government’s first thoughts on the rights legislatio­n are contained in a recently released discussion paper that coincided with the start of consultati­ons.

The NDP accuse the Liberals of touting the right to housing as “an empty slogan,” saying the document shows the government doesn’t intend to follow through fully on the pledge.

Social Developmen­t Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the Liberal plan rests on a human-rights based approach.

“These investment­s [will] reduce homelessne­ss and take 500,000 Canadians out of housing that is either unaffordab­le or is inadequate, and that will be based on the right to housing,” Duclos said Monday in the House of Commons.

He said the four pillars of the rights proposal are inclusiven­ess, helping those in the greatest need; accountabi­lity, requiring regular reporting to Parliament about national housing efforts; participat­ion, through the creation of a national housing watchdog; and non-discrimina­tion, eliminatin­g systemic issues that prevent people from finding a home.

Consultati­ons on the proposal close June 1. The legislatio­n is expected to be introduced this year.

The national housing strategy takes $26 billion in promised new spending to go with previously promised funding and expected cash from provinces, territorie­s and the private sector that combined to push spending over $40 billion.

All the spending is supposed to happen over the next 10 years, much of it after the 2019 election.

 ?? CP ?? Social Developmen­t Minister Jean-Yves Duclos touts a humanright­s based approach.
CP Social Developmen­t Minister Jean-Yves Duclos touts a humanright­s based approach.

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