Region must act now on social housing

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

With thousands of people on a waiting list and a report addressing the region’s affordable housing needs set to hit council in just over a month, Oshawa councillor Dan Carter says the time to act is now.

Over the past year, the region’s Affordable and Senior’s Housing task force has been shaping its final report through a number of avenues, including feedback from residents, developers, and private and non-profit housing providers.

This final report, which includes 35 specific recommendations across six prioritized action plans, was discussed at length at the committee’s latest meeting.

Carter was adamant that once the report is fully finalized and supported by regional council, action should be taken almost immediately.

“I want us (regional council) to make a public statement saying we are going to spend x number of dollars and build x number of buildings over the next 10 years.”

“This has to be a priority or it is just words on a piece of paper,” Carter said emphatically to his fellow committee members. “If no action happens, we’ve wasted our time.”

While he was generally satisfied with the report, Carter believed it requires more concise language, noting while reading the recommendations, he often found himself asking who would be involved and how, and what would bode well when presenting the report to members of council.

Following the meeting, Carter, who serves as president of Durham Region Non-Profit Housing, told The Express he plans to “advocate, educate and lobby” to anyone who will listen about the housing needs in the region.

Regional chair and CEO Roger Anderson believes the recommendations do not focus enough on the roles the provincial and federal government have, or should have, in his opinion, in addressing housing needs.

“I can’t believe we went through all these [recommendations] with letting [the] upper levels of government get away with nothing.”

The CEO seemed to be caught off guard when he was informed by staff that Durham Region foots the bill for its approximately 4,500 rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units, leading him to label the issue “a provincial and federal responsibility not a municipal taxpayer responsibility” and adding that if the provincial and federal governments won’t up their funding, they should at least provide Durham Region with surplus land for any new projects.

Carter says while he understands the frustration for the region when dealing with the province and federal governments on the issue of housing, he believes local officials need to take the lead, using the redevelopment of Regent Park in Toronto as an example.

“The City of Toronto sought out partners, and then went to the province with the idea instead of waiting for the province to come to them.”

Anderson also cast his doubts that any future affordable housing development would be high-rise apartment buildings.

“I’ll bet you it will be stacked townhouses or back-to-back townhouses.”

Committee chair and Oshawa Councillor Bob Chapman agreed there is often backlash from residents against high-density apartment buildings.

“There seems to be a stereotype. I hear it will increase the crime rates,” Chapman said.

However, he dismissed this notion.

“We know this is not true,” he stated, noting “there are no statistics” to back up the theory.

The task force report recommends the region should lead by example by having focused strategies and actions to address housing needs, with commitments that are “results motivated”.

It also calls for regular monitoring and reporting of the region’s progress to council and seeking out best practices from other municipalities.

Council is set to see the report at the November committee of the whole meeting.