Resources, Taxes and Those 'Lazy' Poor People

Not sure where to start.

On Monday afternoon I went to the book launch of “A Wealth of Resources: Cheap, Free and Savvy Options in Kamloops, BC.” The book was compile by Skylark and offers resource options organized by the category that you are looking for. It is pretty user-friendly and a must-have, I think, in every social agency office. These kinds of initiatives deserve, require, our support. After all, your agency is listed at least once in this resource and you have to do nothing except purchase one or two copies for the office ($25 each). That’s cheap advertising! Do your part and check it out: www.themoneycoach.ca What amazes me most is the amont of work and research someone has to go through to make things affordable for themselves.

I recently heard (later announced on CBC Radio One) that there is a proposal floating in Kelowna that a 1% tax be levied on new development permits to address affordable housing. It is estimated that the annual income from this tax would be about $3 million. Of course, this would not be nearly enough to build even an inadequate amount (estimates are that they are short about 6000 units) but it can certainly go a long way in leveraging money from other sources. Perhaps we need to look at similar creative ways in Kamloops and other cities. I do have a problem with this, however. To what extent is this kind of initiative relieving the province and Ottawa of their responsibility for affordable housing? Will the burden of safe and affordable housing units fall onto individual municipal governments by incremental progression of these kinds of initiatives? Thomas Walkom’s article on the Rabble web site (originally in the Toronto Star) this week addresses some of these issues. It is titled, “Why Our Strategy is Short-sighted.”

Having browsed through Skylarks book and reflected on the incredible shortage of safe affordable housing in our province, it is unclear to me how anyone can say that the poor (and those that help/advocte for them) are not hard workers.

I'm Back

After a long hiatus, I have returned. There has been some significant happenings in my neck of the woods. As I mentioned in my last post, my father-in-law past away. He was a man who, by typical standards, lead a very difficult, sometimes chaotic life. He typically lived in substandard housing, struggled with addiction to alcohol and, although he worked very hard, had a difficult time maintaining traditional employment. He died from lung cancer. When he went to the hospital, they couldn't intubate him because there wasn't enough room in the lungs. How long had this been going on?

I suggest that this is typical of people living in poverty in our country. They do not trust those with any perceived authority. And why should they? Those with power and control have only served to inhibit their access to finances, housing, health services etc. Think about all the roadblocks we put up for low- and limited-income earners in our society. Think of how monitored those in poverty can become. Health professionals, social workers, financial assistance workers, social service agencies...the list goes on. If you were so monitored, would you want yet another professional monitoring your body, your behavior? It seems irrational but people without much control in their lives have got to take control somewhere. Unfortunately, it can be in the most unhealthy of ways.

Although not directly related to housing, this issue is related to my previous post about support. Support, not just for the people we might call our clients, but also for those landlords that choose to provide affordable housing. Had my father-in-law's landlord been able to access support for having an individual with addiction and poverty issues, the home may have been better maintained. Perhaps the landlord could have helped support him in accessing proper health care.

Apologies

I must apologize. Shortly after my last post there was a death in the family. Stay tuned for further posts.
Sheldon