A perfect storm for homelessness

Opinion

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This article was published 17/02/2021 (1407 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE recent death of a homeless man during -35C winter weather is a call to action. And new programs investing small amounts of money will not address the perfect storm for homelessness that is being created by the Pallister government’s policies. Its approach is contributing to homelessness through a series of cuts, policy changes and privatization that will increase the number of Manitobans without shelter this COVID-19 winter.

To begin with, even though thousands are out of work, rents will go up again the same amount as last year and most years before that. On Jan. 1, 2021, despite the pandemic, rents increased 1.6 per cent.

What is really driving up rents is a government amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act that removed a tenant’s right to appeal in provincial court rent increases above the guideline, and changed the formula to allow landlords to raise rents higher and more quickly after repairs to a rental unit. Some tenants are now being gouged with rent increases in excess of 30 per cent.

When the second wave of the pandemic arrived, it was accompanied by a tsunami of evictions after the ban on such measures was lifted last October. On March 24, 2020, rents increases were deferred and eviction hearings prevented as a public-health measure, recognizing it is difficult to self-isolate at home when you don’t have a home.

The pandemic co-ordinating committee should address this, but that, too, was dissolved temporarily last June.

A big driver of homelessness are the ongoing cuts and privatization of public housing. As of November 2018, more than 950 units had been sold. When Brian Pallister and his Progressive Conservative government took power in 2016, there were 29,265 Manitobans living in social housing — a number that has continued to shrink.

Manitoba has an inadequate number of new affordable and subsidized housing units being built. There are more than 9,000 people on the wait lists for Manitoba Housing, while about 1,700 units sit vacant. It might save the government money in the short term to keep units vacant rather than paying the cost to repair and subsidize them, but homelessness is expensive in the longer term, costing our health-care and other systems dearly.

The adage “You can’t make money providing decent homes for people who are poor” is more real than ever. The cost of constructing and maintaining quality rental housing is beyond what can be covered by affordable rents. The government must be in the business of subsidizing affordable housing to prevent homelessness. We are paying for tax cuts with more tent villages, more people staying in abusive relationships, more panhandling and other desperate actions such as shoplifting and drug use.

And it doesn’t stop there. The Employment and Income Assistance program, (EIA), already Scrooge-like, is a common Conservative target. People are still being cut off welfare during the pandemic; additionally, EIA benefits have been cut, forcing unemployed folks to live on less than $800 per month.

Even though the minimum wage went up to $11.90 last October, this does not compare to the accumulated increases in these other costs: rents, bus fare, food, Hydro and other utilities that have increased more than wages have. And 7,000 low-income Manitobans relying on Rent Assist have also seen cutbacks. The province has increased the deductible, making it harder to qualify, and reduced the amounts of the rent supplement.

One of the easiest measures to reduce homelessness is putting a time limit on the “bad tenant” list at the Residential Tenancies Branch. Tenants who have lost a claim at RTB have their name on this list forever; landlords check it, then deny tenants applications for housing. A period of good-tenant behavior and a reference should remove a tenant’s name from this list.

The eight Winnipeg homeless shelters must be recognized for keeping people safe during the pandemic. On any given night they are full. During COVID-19, self-isolation locations for people who do not have a home are full. Shelters need more community supports to assist people with mental illness, addictions, FASD, a criminal record, a bad tenancy record and other barriers which make it difficult to find and keep decent housing.

Finally, wealth must be redistributed into a social safety net, including public housing, or this perfect storm for homelessness will result in more of Winnipeg’s renters going hungry as they pay not just 30 per cent, but more than 50 per cent of their income on rent.

Let’s stop pretending homelessness is a problem caused by individual failings, and admit it is created through policy, systems and structures that make it impossible for everyone to afford a place to call home.

Marianne Cerilli is a former NDP MLA (1990-2003) who served as the Opposition housing critic and then legislative assistant to the minister of family services and housing. As an advocate at West Central Women’s Resource Centre, she initiated the HOMES Program and the Winnipeg Rental Network.

Mariannecerilli.ca