500 signatures reached
To: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all Provincial Premieres
Provide homes for the homeless, both Syrian refugees and Canadians
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and all provincial premieres,
We, the undersigned, applaud your decision to help settle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada this year. If the government is offering a helping hand to those in desperate need of a home from abroad, we also expect the government to tackle the problem of homelessness in Canada.
To tackle homelessness in Canada we would like the federal and provincial governments to work together to create both a National Housing Strategy as well as a National Mental Health Strategy to ensure our most vulnerable citizens are cared for.
We want to see all levels of government provide the funding necessary to build 100,000 low income housing units over the next 5 years. In addition, we want to ensure that there are enough temporary shelter beds to ensure that no one is sleeping on the streets.
Another major reason for homelessness in Canada is due to lack of adequate mental health care. Those who struggle with mental health issues and cannot cope with life can often end up on the streets. With rates of mental health issues including depression on the rise, it essential that all levels of government provide significant investment towards Mental Health. Healthy minds will ultimately lead to a healthy society.
We call on the federal government to work towards a National Mental Health Strategy with a minimum budget of $100 Million.
Please make this a priority.
Thank-you.
Why is this important?
Why do we have homelessness in Canada, one of the wealthiest nations on earth?
There are many reasons for people to end up on the streets without a home, but two major reasons are related to affordable housing and lack of mental health support.
WE NEED MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Many people simply cannot afford to pay the rising cost of rent, or are victims of the current wave of renovictions.
Maria is the single mother of a four year old child. The father disappeared shortly after the child was born and offers no support. Maria has no access to affordable daycare and is therefore unable to work. Social assistance barely covers her rent and she relies on food banks to feed herself. One day she was renovicted from her apartment where she had lived for the last five years. She searched for a place to live but rents were exorbitant and landlords were reluctant to rent to someone who is unemployed. She applied for social housing but there were no available units.
Renovicted from her apartment Maria and her child were now homeless. She found a women's shelter that would take her in for a few months, but in February her time is up and she has nowhere to go but the streets.
TACKLING HOMELESSNESS REQUIRES A MENTAL HEALTH STRATEGY
Justin is a 25 a young man who struggles with drug addiction. As a child he was severely abused by his father. His mother was an alcoholic who also suffered abuse from Justin's father, and was unable to give her son the love that he needed. At the age of ten he was removed from his abusive family and placed in foster care. Over the next few years he bounced from foster home to foster home. In some places he suffered abuse. Tired of being bounced around and feeling unloved, he dropped out of school and left home. Without money, a home, or adequate mental health care, he panhandled for change and turned to street drugs to numb the pain he was feeling. The toxic drugs combined with his already fragile state of mind led to a quick deterioration of his mental health. Without any support his life spiralled into a state of self-destruction. One night in December, just before Christmas, he was unable to find a shelter. Feeling cold, miserable and alone, he scored some drugs that would numb his pain. The next morning his frozen body was found in an alley way.
The story of Maria and Justin are just two examples of the countless stories of people struggling with homelessness and a lack of mental health care.
Canada is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, and as a nation we should be committed to ensuring that everyone who needs a home has a home. We should also be dedicated to ensuring people who are struggling with their lives have access to a mental health care professional who can help them cope and get back on their feet.
It is for this reason that all levels of government must make affordable housing and mental health care a priority. If we can help settle tens of thousands of refugees, then we can also help our own citizens in need.
Let us build a compassionate society, so we can be a role model for the world.
How it will be delivered
I will do a press conference and deliver the petition by email to the PMO, the offices of all provincial premieres, and all Ministers connected to housing and health.