Is a refusal to build affordable housing treason?
Yes, that word entered the conversation. Part 3 of Single Women Living Together.
Hi, I’m Renée, a finance and business journalist, writer, and content strategist. The Budgette is a chill newsletter about single finances and is published twice a month to more than 2,000 subscribers, some paid - thank you as that supports my ability to take time to interview experts. I prefer to write when I have something to say and when I’m not here, I work on content strategy and execution for Canadian and U.S. publications and brands. If you want to work together, message me or you can find me on LinkedIn. There is a direct message option now but don’t do that. I probably won’t see it in time.
This is part three and the final part of a series looking at solutions that focus on solving or mitigating issues that affect single people of all ages. You can read part one and part two.
In the last issue of The Budgette, I spoke with Pat Dunn, 74, and founder of Ontario-based Senior Women Living Together (SWLT), an organization that is open to any female-identifying person, 55 years and older, and living in Ontario. We talked about how to choose a roommate and what likemindedness meant.
In this issue, Dunn talks about her goals for the SWLT and touches briefly on the role of government in providing housing.
Read more: How does Canada fix the housing crisis?
When asked if the various levels of government have failed to properly address the issue of affordable housing, Dunn said the short answer is yes.
“It's entirely the responsibility and the problem is almost entirely caused by the government,” she says. “They stopped building affordable housing in the 80s.”
The Canadian federal government put a stop to building housing in the 1992 budget. (That’s hilarious considering Brian Mulroney, who was the prime minister at the time, just died.) It terminated its federal co-operative housing program after building nearly 60,000 homes for low- and moderate-income Canadians. Then just over a year later, in the April 1993 budget, the government froze spending for social housing.
Dunn says that a combination of the expectation that Baby Boomers would downsize, freeing up homes; a lack of proper rent control, and provincial governments not enforcing affordable unit mandates for developers as several reasons for a lack of affordable housing.
Provincial governments haven’t been great when it comes to enforcing a certain percentage of affordable units through developers. Montreal developers have opted to pay a fine instead of building these units and Ontario’s commitment to affordable housing is Swiss-cheese permeable at best.
The federal government, under pressure, recently announced that it will open up six of its surplus properties to build 2,800 homes. Experts say it’s a good start but this will not fulfill current demand.
“When you're a representative and you've been voted in and you do something that actually damages the people when you're supposed to protect them and take care of them, that's treason,” Dunn says.
She says that she posts every political article she can find and hopes that gets the members to call their representatives to ask about these issues.
She also says that Seniors for Social Action (Ontario) is an advocacy group working on issues such as healthcare and senior housing. The association began in 2020 in response to ‘the carnage in long-term care facilities during the pandemic.’
“They're very familiar with the housing issues as well. They know what they're doing and they know how to do it.”
In the meantime, SWLT, which is supported entirely by volunteers, is looking at the next stage of the organization’s evolution, which is getting charitable status.
“[When] you want to apply for charity status, you have to have every I dotted and T crossed and it's quite an experience,” Dunn says. “So now I have a working board that takes jobs that interest them and gets the work done in between meetings.” They’re also looking at grants and corporate donations but it’s early days.
As for expansion outside of Ontario, it is in the plans but not until 2025 at the earliest. Dunn says there is demand for an organization like SWLT. She gets emails from people across North America. Part of the potential expansion is maintaining brand integrity across Canada.
“After the first week, [when] I opened up the Facebook group in 2019, I had 50 members, by the end of the month I had 200. I was just dumbfounded, I didn't know what to do with that. I had to start thinking ‘Okay, this isn't about me anymore. This is about all of us and we've got to figure out a way to help them, not just myself.”
Hi readers, I’m going to interview Candice Batista, author of the new book, Sustained for the newsletter. If you have any questions about going green and sustainable without spending more money than needed, pop them below.
This week’s readings:
I’ve got a new survey about your coupledom (or not) status. I know there are a lot of single people who read this but I also know a lot of partnered people read it as well, and I’m curious. You can choose your option here.
By me: Four things to do if your company is feeling an economic pinch (RBC)
Also by me: What you need to file your taxes (Financial Pipeline)
Oh, yikes. Agreed. Birthday Girlies Are Draining Our Accounts And Enough Is Enough (Refinery29)
Hehehehe. I do suggest you read the whole thing. Rich and successful? It’s likely you’re just lucky (Globe and Mail)
Canadian college student flies 2 hours to class to avoid paying rent: ‘Same as taking a bus’ (New York Post via Yahoo Canada)
Relevant to this series. Seniors forced to move after retirement home fees jump nearly $1,000/month (CBC via Yahoo Canada)
The short answer is, not positively. What Canadians think of RTO (Linkedin News)
I always appreciate what Max Fawcett writes. Canada needs a wealth tax (National Observer)
Huh. Things I didn’t expect to read. New money advice from Wyclef Jean just dropped – and it's a rap (Reuters)
So how much does it cost to live on a cruise ship full-time? Tips for Travellers covered this two years ago, so this isn’t a new idea. (YouTube)
One more thing, a poll for my Gen X readers:
Just read “Canada Needs a Wealth Tax” (National Observer). My understanding is that the author would like to see the billionaires and 1% in Canada exposed to a wealth tax. But then suggests 3 wealth tax brackets, the lowest starting at 1% on net wealth of 10 million. Personally, this doesn’t represent the “billionaires” and “elite 1%”. Did I miss something?