Region should address housing

Dear Editor,

I read with dismay the article in the Feb. 19 edition of The Oshawa Express, “Region wants to help tenants, landlords to rent safely in Durham”.

To infer that people are homeless because of a lack of life skills and not a lack of affordable housing is insane. If a single person has a maximum Ontario Works cheque of $733 for a month, where do they find housing they can pay for here? A quick search of rooms for rent on Kijiji will show you rents of $595 up to $800 for a room. Does regional council believe that the 14 certified RentSmart trainers can show people how to budget a month’s worth of living on between $138 or being in the hole by $67.

Even sharing an apartment with roommates is no solution when each person’s share of rent is almost 100 per cent of their income.

We have people sleeping rough outdoors, living in their cars, sheltering overnight in sheds and garages, wrapped in sleeping bags in doorways. Our city and regional governments take no real action. Rather than make any effort to address the lack of affordable housing in our area, our council unanimously approves a pencil pushing project for a bunch of bureaucrats.

Lesley Cameron