Housing is a Right, Not a Commodity
The Housing for All Working Group writes that the pandemic has deeply affected our social and economic systems, and has uncovered just how deep the crises in our systems run. We must do better than a return to a pre-pandemic Nova Scotia. Before the pandemic, many Nova Scotians were struggling to make ends meet, uncertain about how they would pay next month’s rent or power bill. Many were going without food, or rationing, because they had to use their only ‘discretionary’ money – meant for essentials like food and medication – to ensure they did not lose the roof over their heads.
In Nova Scotia, thousands are without any place to call their own: living on the streets, couch surfing, staying in shelters, or relying on emergency hotel stays that lack security of tenure and will end in a mass eviction. Some are in accommodations that they cannot afford, or which are not safe or adequate or properly maintained. For others, there is a lack of housing that is accessible and accommodates their needs to live barrier-free. As housing becomes even more unaffordable in areas located close to employment, services, or amenities, it pushes many out of their communities, isolating them.
So many Nova Scotians are housing insecure: they have very little protection to support them to stay in their current housing situation in the face of evictions and rising rents, or even to move to a more suitable location.
Our response cannot be to punish the victims of this failed policy, as we saw on August 18th in Halifax
Housing is Health
If the new Premier wishes to achieve his mandate of “fixing” health care in Nova Scotia, then housing must be a part of his strategy. Stress from housing insecurity has a significant impact on our physical, mental and social health leading to premature death, chronic illness, and social exclusion. Ensuring that everyone has a housing secure future is critical for their health and our collective community’s well-being.
By not supporting rent control the new Premier’s response has been to double down on the same housing strategy that created this crisis. His approach relies on the private sector and the commodification of housing to increase supply and lacks analysis of the barriers that create housing insecurity like income insecurity.
We need a housing strategy that includes all 95 recommendations laid out in Keys to a housing secure future for all Nova Scotians.
