Councillor Catherine McKenney, the Ottawa councillor for Somerset Ward, has put forward a motion on housing to the City of Ottawa Council and started a campaign in support of the motion. According to the campaign’s website, the motion
“–declares an affordable housing and homelessness emergency in Ottawa;
–acknowledges that we do not possess the resources to manage this crisis alone and that we must call on the Provincial and Federal governments to assist us by providing the City with an immediate increase in emergency funding for housing, housing supports and housing allowances as well as a long-term financial plan to meet the needs of the community;
–resolves that the update to the ten-year housing and homelessness plan includes aggressive targets to:
-preserve and increase the affordable housing supply;
-increase access to housing affordability;
-prevent the occurrence of homelessness and eliminate by 100 per cent chronic homelessness by 2024; and
-ensure people are supported to achieve housing stability and long-term housing retention.”
There are two ways to support this campaign. The first is to sign the petition on the website. The second is to join the rally in support of the motion. The rally takes place at Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 9:00-9:30 a.m. at Marion Dewar Plaza, Ottawa City Hall. You can also join the Facebook event.
Come out and help ensure that everyone in Ottawa has proper housing!