CCEDNet Supports Right to Housing on Kapyong
Right to Housing Coalition will hold informational pickets to draw attention to the more than 100 empty Kapyong houses that have remained empty for the past five years, while being maintained at a total cost of $7.5 million to taxpayers.
* One picket will take place at the former Kapyong Barracks site, corner of Kenaston and Corydon at 3:30 on Friday, November 20th.
* A second informational picket will be held in Steinbach at 1pm on Friday, November 20th, and will involve a visit to the office of Vic Toews, MP, Provencher, to ask him why he has refused to respond to the Coalition’s ongoing requests to address this issue. (See Chronology below.)
The Coalition wants taxpayers to know that, while the Canadian Forces housing remains empty, the houses continue to be heated and maintained, at a cost of about $1.5 million per year (based on heat, upkeep, security and lost rent). The cost of losing them due to deterioration could be over $15 million.
At the same time taxpayers are paying to heat these empty houses, there is a critical shortage of low-cost housing for families in the city.
This situation has been brought to the attention of Minister Toews on a number of occasions. Minister Toews, President of the Treasury Board and senior minister in the federal government from Manitoba, has been asked to meet to discuss the Coalition’s proposal to allow a number of the empty houses to be used as transitional housing for eligible families. All the federal government has to do to provide a letter directing the empty houses be rented.
The Province of Manitoba has agreed to provide rent subsidies under existing provincial housing programs as soon as the houses become available.
Right to Housing is a Winnipeg-based coalition that brings together 36 organizations and over 120 individuals to address the chronic need for social housing.
Right to Housing and the Federal Government: Chronology of correspondence on Kapyong’s empty housing.
February 25, 2006: R2H writes to MP Vic Toews, asking for his support, as well as that of Prime Minister Harper, in making use of empty Kapyong homes. No reply from Mr. Toews.
November, 2007: R2H meets with MP Rod Bruinooge with a plan to use empty Kapyong houses while the government resolves the land issues. R2H followed up with letter indicating the Province’s support for the plan with rental subsidies and the need for a further meeting to advance this plan. No reply was received.
March 26, 2008: A delegation from St. Peter’s Anglican Church and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church meet with Mr. Bruinooge, contending that if there was no federal money to move Kapyong houses to First Nations communities, then they should be occupied. MP Bruinooge said to expect the relocation effort to begin “within a couple of months.”
April 21, 2008: A similar delegation from St. Peter’s Anglican and Messiah Lutheran met with MP Steven Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher blamed the First Nations court case and the indecision of the city of Winnipeg re: widening Kenaston Blvd. for the non-use of the homes. The delegation pointed out that many of the empty homes were located on streets other than Kenaston, including the homes on Carpathia. Mr. Fletcher said that some of the homes would be used “soon”.
April, 2009. As the senior conservative MP from Manitoba, R2H called Mr. Toews’ Steinbach constituency office to ask for a meeting at the Winnipeg federal cabinet office. The staff person in Steinbach said the Winnipeg office is not open to the public.
May 8, 2009: R2H wrote to Mr. Toews requesting a May or June meeting to review the issues that are preventing the use of the Kapyong houses and present the R2H plan. No response from Mr. Toews.
October 9, 2009: With the federal court’s decision that Ottawa had failed to properly consult the Treaty One First Nations before transferring Kapyong to Canada Lands, chances are good the houses will remain empty unless the Government of Canada shows courage and leadership by proceeding with R2H’s plan to put them to good use. R2H wrote to Mr. Toews, following up on our email of September 30, requesting a meeting to ask for Mr. Toews’ assistance in implementing the R2H plan for the interim use of some of the empty houses on the Kapyong base. There has been no reply from Mr. Toews.
