Protesters demand action as homelessness conference kicks off

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This article was published 03/12/2024 (309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lot of talk, not enough action.

That was the message a group of housing advocates delivered as they protested during a Winnipeg homelessness conference Tuesday afternoon, calling the event a waste of money.

Standing in the cold outside the WAG-Qaumajuq, where the first Ending Homelessness Together conference was getting underway, a small group of demonstrators held up placards demanding the government seize empty homes for housing and to “stop hoarding housing.”

“Money has and is currently being … wasted on conversation,” said Michelle Dallmann. “There has been decades of conversation being had about what do we do to keep people off of the streets? What do we do to address housing? How do we make Winnipeg a safe and comfortable place to live? The answer is regulated cost of rent which is 100 per cent in the power of our provincial government.”

The three-day conference, hosted by End Homelessness Winnipeg, will focus on the over-representation of Indigenous people on the streets with keynote speakers set to discuss and explore solutions to the city’s homelessness crisis.

Les Scott, a volunteer for grassroots group Better Manitoba, said there’s a frustration among housing advocates about another conference being held to plan out strategies for homelessness, which are often followed by little action.

Scott said long-term strategies for social housing has long been underfunded and a holistic approach is needed to the housing crisis.

“The first step is we need good, safe, quality, affordable housing that is run for the social needs of the people, rather than for profit making,” Scott said.

He worries temporary housing seems to be going the way of food banks: the model used to be an emergency strategy and now it’s becoming an industry.

Inside the conference, End Homelessness CEO Jason Whitford told attendees the sessions would promise to share solutions and best practices “as we work towards creating housing for everyone and everyone feeling belonging and having the right supports that they need.”

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the province has taken steps to address housing including restructuring rules so renters aren’t faced with eviction notices on a short notice.

Smith also said the province will mobilize Indigenous support teams to host community events as outreach.

“We’re really looking at redesigning the way that we’re doing housing (but) there’s lots of work to be done,” she said.

In October, the province announced it would give the Business Council of Manitoba $10 million to help address the province’s affordable housing crisis, but the public-private partnership raised concerns among community advocates.

At the time, Kirsten Bernas, who chairs the Right to Housing Coalition, worried private investors would expect a return on investment and the suites would, in turn, be below-market affordable housing rates.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. defines affordable as a household spending less than 30 per cent of its income on rent.

Dallmann and Scott said the province holds the key to creating affordable housing and refuses to take action on rent control or tenant protections.

The Manitoba government boosted the rent increase guideline from zero per cent to three per cent last July, the first increase in three years, which sparked concern among tenant and community advocates.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca