5/14/2019: Today, more Housing Rights Advocates appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to discuss the right to housing commitment in the National Housing Strategy Act (included in the Budget Implementation Act, 2019).
The advocates echoed calls for the federal government to introduce amendments to strengthen the proposed right to housing in Canada.
- LISTEN to Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, or READ her statement.
- LISTEN to Michele Biss, Policy Director and Human Rights Lawyer with Canada Without Poverty, or READ her statement.
Members of the Right to Housing Campaign have been meeting with senior government officials and Parliamentarians on the amendments and have been getting positive feedback. For amendments to be made, they will have to be supported by the Standing Committee. If the committee votes in support of the amendments, they would be sent with the rest of Bill C-97 (Budget Implementation Act, 2019) back to the House of Commons for a final vote, and from there to the Senate.