Warren Waters
On January 29th the city declared a housing emergency. According to a memo from the mayor, more capital for housing units and operational housing subsidies are expected, doubling or tripling the affordable housing units built or subsidized (from an average of under 300 units per year over the last 6 years, to between 570-850 per year over the next ten years). The refreshed homelessness plan is not yet public but reportedly includes only aspirational or sample strategies. So what should we expect will change here in Lowertown?
Mathieu Fleury says “I am glad to have worked with Catherine [McKenny] in getting unanimous support in their motion to declare a Housing and Homelessness emergency. This is a large step to respond to the needs of residents and vulnerabilities in Ottawa. The City needs to sharpen its ask so that Provincial and Federal governments support 1000 units built every year. Residents in our neighbourhood continue to see how the current model continues to fail vulnerable residents. This motion recognizes an urgent need to do things differently.”
A local corner store merchant believes the city is “…bamboozling us to raise taxes”, since the $1.1 billion dollars spent on housing in the last six years has produced only “…1783 new affordable/supportive housing options including new builds and housing subsidies.”
Lynn Trevor, a local realtor says “Homelessness has been a crisis for too long, both in Lowertown and beyond. So Ottawa, being the first City to declare an emergency on affordable housing and homelessness, is a good start to bringing this issue to the forefront.”
Noman Moyer, President of Lowertown Community Association, says these “…are all positive steps. They raise awareness and prepare the ground for more effective long term action. … But, none of this matters unless real plans and budgets are made. … the City has to develop the plans and determine the budgets required. So let’s praise the current ‘consciousness raising’ and continue to call for clear policies, measurable targets and detailed plans.”
Catherine Hacksel, a local housing advocate who also works in the sector says: “As the lawyers at council indicated, the motion doesn’t have legal implications – so this move basically has no teeth. I see this as simply spectacle and folks on the street deserve better.”
My personal view is hopeful, but skeptical. Expecting that government funding alone can build enough affordable housing is unrealistic. For each new affordable unit built in the past few years, Ottawa has lost seven existing affordable rental units. The private rental market must be involved in solutions.
Low interest rates, governments abdicating their responsibility for correcting housing market failures, and low-density zoning: all increase land value beyond our earnings. Existing owners get richer while impoverishing the next generation. Without wider public understanding of all our roles in this refreshed plan, it is unlikely to be more successful than the last 6 years.