The Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres of Ottawa and its partner agencies are calling on the next federal government to tackle income inequality in Ottawa and across the country.
CHRC’s new report, Bridging the Gap: A Call to Action for the Next Federal Government, published Sept. 17, recommends three key areas it says need more attention and funding from the federal government: affordable housing, food security, and public transit.
Tess Frémont-Côté, communications officer at Somerset West Community Health Centre, one of the partners involved in the research behind the report, says she sees daily how income inequality negatively impacts people’s health.
“We want the federal government to acknowledge that although health care is very important, addressing the social determinants of health such as food, housing and public transit are really smart investments for people’s health and foster safe strong communities,” she says.
Paul Dewar, the NDP MP for Ottawa Centre, who is now running for re-election, says growing income inequality is a sign of failed government policy. “I’ve always said poverty is not a choice, poverty is an outcome,” he says.
Mike Bulthius, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness, drew cheers with his opening statement at an Ottawa press conference marking the release of Bridging the Gap on Sept. 17. “I hope this will be the last election campaign that we will have to advocate for a national housing strategy,” Bulthius told the crowd.
In Ottawa alone, there are more than 10,000 families on the waiting list for affordable housing. Both the NDP and the Liberals have pledged to create a national housing strategy like the one the CHRC is campaigning for.
The lack of affordable housing in Ottawa is an issue that Catherine McKenna, Liberal candidate for Ottawa Centre, says she is particularly passionate about. “It is a priority for me, it is a priority in our riding,” she says. “We cannot have this go on where so many people are struggling to find decent housing.”
Damian Konstantinakos, Conservative candidate for Ottawa Centre, says affordable housing should come under provincial and municipal jurisdiction, with the support of transfers from the federal government. “People on the ground are the best to determine the approach to take and how to spend the money,” he says.
Frémont-Côté says it’s important that the federal government commits to a national affordable housing plan. “We’re asking the federal government to lead the way and really prioritize a cohesive commitment to these issues,” she says.
Bilthius says a national strategy would provide funding and coordination to construct additional affordable housing units, repair existing ones and provide rent subsidies so that more people in Ottawa could afford current rental units.
CHRC also wants the government to implement a national food policy to combat hunger and ensure all Canadians have access to healthy food. The Liberals and the NDP have both promised such plans if elected. Konstantinakos says that food insecurity is a provincial- and municipal-level problem. “National programs are a great way to make money disappear when it’s left in the wrong hands,” he says.
In its final recommendation for the next federal government, Bridging the Gap details how access to affordable public transit affects health. Without effective public transit, it states, people living on low incomes have limited job opportunities and are unable to access vital health and social services. The price of monthly bus passes in Ottawa has increased 60 per cent over the past 10 years. A standard adult monthly pass costs $103.25.
CHRC says investing in affordable housing, food security and public transit is more cost effective than responding in a crisis situation when people develop health problems or become homeless. Dewar agrees: “Even if you don’t believe we need to help each other out, income inequality hurts our economy. We can’t literally afford it anymore.”
McKenna says that beyond the economic argument, income inequality is a fairness issue. “I think that’s a very Canadian value that we believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed,” she says.
Konstantinakos believes the best way to tackle income inequality is to grow the economy. “We create opportunity, we create jobs and that’s what we focus on,” he says.