A coalition of affordable housing, tenants’ rights and anti-poverty activist groups is planning to hold a march through downtown Toronto on June 14 to protest what they describe as a housing crisis created by “corporate greed and government inaction.”
In a press statement, the activist groups said they planned to stop “at the offices of major developers, argue safe and affordable housing is a basic right too important to be left to companies set on maximizing profits.” The organizations also demanded the provincial and federal governments support social and nonprofit housing while stopping private sector developers from encroaching into the rental housing market.
“Governments must stop throwing millions of dollars in subsidies and incentives at profit-making corporations,” said John Clarke of the group 230 Fightback. “The housing crisis playing out every day on our streets shows in tragic detail just how wrong-headed such policies are.”
The announcement of the June 14 march follows a new survey published by the Toronto Region Board of Trade that found more than half (52%) of residents expressing a lack of confidence in their ability to live comfortably for the long-term in the Toronto region while slightly more than two-thirds (67%) admitting they were not confident that future generations will be able to afford to live and work in the Toronto region.
“While residents still believe in Toronto’s economic promise, that optimism is fleeting,” said the Toronto Region Board of Trade in a statement. “Half of those surveyed say they’re not confident about the region’s economic outlook over the next year.”
