Homelessness 'chronic' in Canada: study

[CBC News]

Canada's homeless population is somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people, while another 1.7 million residents struggle with "housing affordability issues," says an analysis of the latest research on shelter.
In a report released Tuesday from the Calgary-based Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, journalist and author Gordon Laird argues homelessness is now chronic and is quickly becoming one of the country's defining social issues.
Citing statistics from a wide range of organizations, Laird says poverty is the leading cause of homelessness in Canada, not substance abuse or mental illness. "Roughly half of all Canadians live in fear of poverty, and 49 per cent polled believe they might be poverty stricken if they missed one or two paycheques," he writes.
He cites government numbers showing a cost of up to $6 billion a year to service a "core" homeless population of 150,000. That cost includes health care, criminal justice, social services and emergency shelter costs.
The report criticizes Canada for trying to contain the growth of homelessness with temporary measures such as shelters and other crisis-based services.
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Are the number of homeless growing where you live? What should be done?


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[Nuggler]

Homeless Chronic

Now there's a CBC reporter with a finely attuned command of the obvious.:roll:

You want to see homelessness and poverty, try the Ukraine or most former Soviet countries, or Africa, or South America, or the USA.

Quick idea: Affordable housing for those whose homeless cause is poverty. Mental institutions for those who were thrown out of mental institutions by the Conservatives a few years ago. Care on the street for those who refuse to be housed.

It might cost as much as whassername, the MP from NWT who flies home EVERY WEEKEND to make sure everything's ok. (read this in a "over 50" mag.).......true.......???? She seemed to be proud of it.

Be a will, there be a way. No will. No way.

Hey hey.

Off we go.:canada:

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

My brother is a McGill graduate. He was an honor student, came first in quebec for grade school every year. Has a genius IQ....and is a Schizophrenic.
He went from an awesome life to a guy in Montreal everyone sees.
90 degree heat in a full snowmobile suit screaming at the passerbys inanities.....Sort of like my posting ....


Seriously the saddest thing ... a few pills a day and he could live what we could call a productive life.....It's against the law in Canada to force medication down his throat, but i recall a Jehovah witness's child being forced a blood transfusion . what is the difference..age? Is not my brother though older than me if he is still alive, any different than that child.


My mother has cried an ocean over this.
The only consolation to her and i don't honestly know if it's true or just an altuistic thing for a doctor to say to Ma. The doc said to her that actually he was very happy, in his mind he is living in a sort of god realm.
You see him eating out of a garbage can , to him he is at the finest buffet.....Now this WAS SAID to my mother , i never believed it but never said a word to her to take away what i think the doctor told her some 25 years ago to ease her pain.

P.S. no news from him is good news , she has not heard a thing in 12 year.


very very touchy subject with me.....


edit add on: please don't judge my coldness about the no news is good news..if you want i could discuss it further

 

[#juan]

A couple years ago some sociologist/social worker announced the income, below which, a person was said to be living in poverty. I was a bit annoyed because this income just happened to be about the same as my pension income. Now we eat pretty well, probably too well, we own our home, we take a vacation to Cancun or Europe, or somewhere every year, we just bought a new car out of our savings, and we manage to bank a bit of our pension every year. I would hate to think I've missed something and we are going broke and will be driven into the street with the other poor people.

I've always thought "broke" was a temporary shortage of cash, while "poor" was a state of mind. There have been "poor" since I can remember and there probably will always be people down on their luck. Are the panhandlers in downtown Vancouver "poor"? They seem to be just about all young people who would be capable of working for a living, like I did for thirty odd years so I could retire. I have a little trouble getting excited because some "journalist" makes some depressing announcement.

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

Are the panhandlers in downtown Vancouver "poor"? They seem to be just about all young people who would be capable of working for a living, like I did for thirty odd years so I could retire. I have a little trouble getting excited because some "journalist" makes some depressing announcement.

Look i can tell if some kid panhandling slept in a bed last night and is playing homeless for some extra dough. I see it a lot. If the kid looks like they need a good bath , they are homeless plain and simple...
I've actually been"without a fixed address". I know what it is about. The thing is I've always been crafty enough to earn a living out of this city without panhandling. And an honest one too. There are tons of things one can do for people in exchange for cash. Lol! who just thought prostitution....hahahahaha....well that too but i have not actually done that.....

Tricky thing to decide though if a kid is a run away or a poser.

My advice, if the kids hands and feet look filthy enough that no parent would allow them to live in their house like that"Toss them a quarter , if that all you can afford"



Never have i , even in my most dire days , resorted to crime.

 

[Pangloss]

Juan:

A pensioner who owns their own home is in a different economic position than someone who is just starting their working life and rents.

You are fortunate - or perhaps prudent is the better word - to own - it can make all the difference in the world.

In Calgary, where the average house price is now $500,000, someone who wants to buy and has a 10% deposit must make $100,000 a year to qualify for a mortgage, and currently the average annual salary in Calgary is $43,000 (Haskeyne School of Business, U of C numbers).

A bedroom in a basement in a lousy part of town could rent out for $1,000/month. If you can find one.

It doesn't take much to be homeless in Calgary.

Bring back CMHC guaranteed mortgages for co-op condominiums. It would be a start.

Pangloss

BTW: Utter agreement with Oldnugly.

- p

 

[#juan]

Juan:

A pensioner who owns their own home is in a different economic position than someone who is just starting their working life and rents.

You are fortunate - or perhaps prudent is the better word - to own - it can make all the difference in the world.

In Calgary, where the average house price is now $500,000, someone who wants to buy and has a 10% deposit must make $100,000 a year to qualify for a mortgage, and currently the average annual salary in Calgary is $43,000 (Haskeyne School of Business, U of C numbers).

A bedroom in a basement in a lousy part of town could rent out for $1,000/month. If you can find one.

It doesn't take much to be homeless in Calgary.

Bring back CMHC guaranteed mortgages for co-op condominiums. It would be a start.

Pangloss

BTW: Utter agreement with Oldnugly.

- p

We owned our home before we retired, and long before it's value inflated to half a million dollars. When My wife and I bought our first house we even borrowed the down payment and we lived on beans until inflation raised my salary and I could better afford the mortgage payments. I'd like to think we worked hard to get to where we are now, not because we are "lucky". It was hard for a few years.

 

[Pangloss]

So then, as I wrote, Juan, "prudent" would be the word.

Pangloss

 

[Pangloss]

But this isn't about you or me - it's about homelessness.

Pangloss

 

[#juan]

But this isn't about you or me - it's about homelessness.

Pangloss

I used to have a neighbor who's daughter was/is one of the "homeless". This young lady stole from her parents, stole from the neighbors, got caught several times for shoplifting. The parents finally got fed up and threw her out. I've seen her panhandling on Granville street....I don't know where she sleeps.This girl was perfectly capable of working at something. Poor decisions have led her to forty years old and nowhere. The welfare people have bent over backwards trying to help her. Do all "homeless" people have a story like this one? If one applies for welfare, they will help.........they may give you a hard time, but they will help.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

But this isn't about you or me - it's about homelessness.

Pangloss

I believe a lot are homeless by choice. They don't want to follow any rules except their own. In order to be helped by society, you would need to follow the rules of that society. They choose not to. I don't worry about it. There is no reason to be homeless in today's welfare state.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I believe a lot are homeless by choice. They don't want to follow any rules except their own. In order to be helped by society, you would need to follow the rules of that society. They choose not to. I don't worry about it. There is no reason to be homeless in today's welfare state.

What sort of accommodation can one afford in Toronto while receiving welfare? You can't even rent a parking spot in Toronto for $600.00/month.

 

[karrie]

I believe a lot are homeless by choice. They don't want to follow any rules except their own. In order to be helped by society, you would need to follow the rules of that society. They choose not to. I don't worry about it. There is no reason to be homeless in today's welfare state.

Oooh, I have to disagree there.

The one statistic I heard pertaining to street kids was that roughly 80% of all street youth (honestly homeless kids, not just panhandlers), are homeless because they are running from sexual abuse. Seems like a reason besides just not wanting to follow society's rules.

Another large portion of the homeless are mentally ill. Yes, you could interpret that as 'not willing to follow the rules', but it is so beyond the control of many of them, that I can't see holding them responsible for their own situation.

There's no one category that sums up homelessness, much as there's no one tactic which will 'cure' it.

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

Oooh, I have to disagree there.

The one statistic I heard pertaining to street kids was that roughly 80% of all street youth (honestly homeless kids, not just panhandlers), are homeless because they are running from sexual abuse. Seems like a reason besides just not wanting to follow society's rules.

Another large portion of the homeless are mentally ill. Yes, you could interpret that as 'not willing to follow the rules', but it is so beyond the control of many of them, that I can't see holding them responsible for their own situation.

There's no one category that sums up homelessness, much as there's no one tactic which will 'cure' it.

thanks karrie.....
I have to agree with everything she has said here.


RANDOM THOUGHTS on subject:
One point jaun. unlike Quebec in ontario you cannot collect welfare without an address.
My brother like i said would be ok if he were forced to take medication. But he is sooooo out of it he won't.

Homelessness is not really a choice for the most part.

Some street kids actually do quite well without an address and it's sort of a punk like life style. They squat and hang together and it's a whole sub culture.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Oooh, I have to disagree there.

The one statistic I heard pertaining to street kids was that roughly 80% of all street youth (honestly homeless kids, not just panhandlers), are homeless because they are running from sexual abuse. Seems like a reason besides just not wanting to follow society's rules.

Another large portion of the homeless are mentally ill. Yes, you could interpret that as 'not willing to follow the rules', but it is so beyond the control of many of them, that I can't see holding them responsible for their own situation.

There's no one category that sums up homelessness, much as there's no one tactic which will 'cure' it.

The mentally ill unfortunatly are free to check themselves out of insane asylums and not take their pills. If we can't force them to get the treatment they need, how will we get them off the street? Seems to me the same people who are all out there to 'help the homeless' (usually with my tax money) also don't want to force anybody to do something they don't want to do even if they are insane. I don't see how you can keep the crazy people off the street until you can involentarly commit them.

As to the sexually abused kids, what should we do not to stop the sexual abuse which we are not doing now? Lets solve the real problem and then worry about the side effects.

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

As to the sexually abused kids, what should we do not to stop the sexual abuse which we are not doing now? Lets solve the real problem and then worry about the side effects.

you can do nothing to stop it,except to catch it when you can.

Once it's done it's a different picture. But there is always that first incident a father does. How can you stop that...the first time

 

[Pangloss]

It is saddening and common how much people will rationalize and oversimplify and distort in order to justify their lack of compassion or unwillingness to help.

Pangloss

 

[#juan]

I believe a lot are homeless by choice. They don't want to follow any rules except their own. In order to be helped by society, you would need to follow the rules of that society. They choose not to. I don't worry about it. There is no reason to be homeless in today's welfare state.

I think to some extent you are right. I haven't been there but maybe not all make the choice. It seems there is a certain minimum level of self respect that some cannot drop below without slipping into desperation, through the safety net, and ending up on the street and homeless. It is hard for someone who hasn't been there to understand what it's like.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

It is saddening and common how much people will rationalize and oversimplify and distort in order to justify their lack of compassion or unwillingness to help.

Pangloss

I guess you are right. I refuse to help those who will not help themselves. But feel free to use some of your discressionary income to assist where you feel is needed. I don't have anything extra to give.

 

[Pangloss]

IRBS:

Then take care of your own water purification, roads, garbage collection and containment, sewage, product safety, health care (taking out your own appendix would be a bugger, I bet!), and security: we already live in a world where we act together for our common good.

Maybe there are just some people you'd like to kick out of the clubhouse.

Pangloss