FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MPP for Guelph, Mike Schreiner, released the following statement in response to the release of a a joint report from United Way Greater Toronto, the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and SHS that calls for provincial government collaboration with nonprofit and co-op housing providers to build more affordable homes:
“The government is utterly failing to address the housing and homelessness crisis, and the tragic results are being felt all across Ontario.
Last year alone, more than 81,000 people in Ontario experienced homelessness – a staggering 25% increase in just two years. This is unacceptable.
We already know the solution to homelessness: it’s housing. Yet the government repeatedly underinvests in affordable housing and continues to waste time and taxpayer dollars criminalizing homelessness.
I echo this report’s calls for the Ontario government to end chronic homelessness by investing in housing-first solutions led by nonprofit and co-operative housing providers, including by building new affordable and deeply affordable homes and maintaining existing affordable stock.”