Excerpt from: Housing and Homelessness: Still an Un-Natural Disaster - A Report by NDP Housing Spokesperson Libby Davies on the National Crisis in Housing and Homelessness

Excerpt from a report written by Member of Parliament Libby Davies following a cross-Canada housing campaign in Fall, 2001. Davies found that the extent of the housing crisis in Canada has deepened, leaving millions of Canadians' personal security, health and future in jeopardy. Failed public policies and misguided reliance on market-driven "solutions" are to blame for the deepening homelessness and housing crisis. The federal Liberals' policy solutions are inadequate and fail to address the root causes of the crisis - these include the Supporting Community Partnership Initiative (SCPI) and the National Housing Framework Agreement announced in 2001. Davies recommends a fully funded National Housing Strategy; an increase in income supports for low-income Canadians; more emergency and social housing; federal government support for the First Nations Housing Agenda and for Davies' own Bill C-416 calling for a Housing Bill of Rights; and recognition that housing is both a human rights and health issue.