Toronto Disaster Relief Committee
Media advisory
May 1, 2000

Don't blame the weather for Homeless Disaster!
Canada's homeless-makers to be exposed at forum
Monday, May 1 at 7.30 p.m., OISE auditorium, 252 Bloor Street West

Why did mass homelessness grow in Canada and Toronto in the 1980s and
1990s? Can we blame it on the weather? "Since the 1980s there have been a
number of homeless making processes set in motion," says University of
Toronto Professor David Hulchanski, an internationally recognized expert on
housing and homelessness. "These processes have resulted in people who may
be at risk of becoming homeless, as many were in the past, to actually do
so. These processes are not caused by nature – such as an earthquake, ice
storm, or flood. They are human-made processes."

"People, in public and private institutions and organizations large and
small, from households to corporations and governments, have set in motion
and have left unchecked these homeless making processes" says Hulchanski.
"People in a position to stop or redress this harm fail to do so.
Homelessness in Canada will not be eliminated until we can specifically
name the people, the institutions and the policies and practices that
create, promote, refuse to redress and benefit from these homeless making
processes. They are Canada's homeless makers."

Prof. Hulchanski and other experts will expose the homeless-making
processes in Canada and Toronto, and will point to solutions, at a special
forum on May 1st at 7.30 p.m. at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education, 252 Bloor Street West (at St. George subway station). The event
is co-sponsored by the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee and the March to
End Homeless. The moderator is Michael Valpy, religious and ethics
columnist for The Globe and Mail. In addition to Prof. Hulchanski,
panelists include:

- Sister Susan Moran, founder of the Out of the Cold program, which
provides temporary shelter in church basements for homeless people.

- Armine Yalnizyan, economist and social policy analyst, whose recent
studies include The Growing Gap: A report on growing inequality between the
rich and poor in Canada; and Canada's Great Divide: The politics of the
growing gap between rich and poor in the 1990s.

- Paul Hellyer, long-time federal politician, whose housing task force in
the 1960s led to the development of Canada's national co-op and non-profit
housing programs in 1973 and the construction of several hundred thousand
units of affordable housing.

For information:
Kira Heineck, Co-ordinator of TDRC, at 416-703-8482, ext. 411


Housing Now!

Cathy Crowe, RN
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416-703-8482 (117)
416-703-6190 (fax)