'Not looking for a handout': Ottawa–Vanier voters want affordable housing
Local Liberal, NDP and PC candidates have come out against the planned Salvation Army facility
It's been a focus of municipal debate for nearly a year and, now, Salvation Army's planned 350-bed facility on Montreal Road is casting its shadow over the provincial campaign in Ottawa–Vanier.
The diverse riding includes some of the most economically diverse neighbourhoods in the city — think Rockcliffe and Vanier itself — but plans for affordable housing are dominating the conversations of voters throughout.
"I do think it's still, locally, the biggest issue," said Nick Heisler. "We're now a big city. We're a million people."
"Do we have to put all the institutions for homeless in the urban core? No. If you look at other jurisdictions, they've purposely distributed the supportive housing."
Heisler hopes the next person to represent him at Queen's Park will feel the same.
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'It hurts'
The last census paints a grim picture of Ottawa–Vanier's situation in this regard, with Statistics Canada pegging the rate of unaffordable, inadequate or unsuitable housing at 20.9 per cent.
On top of that, the riding has the lowest median household income and the highest prevalence of low-income households in the city.
For 20-year-old Ashley Leahy and 25-year-old Rileigh LeBlanc, affording to live and study has been a struggle.
While on their way to an errand on Montreal Road, Leahy said the pair is "invested" in the issue of affordable housing. "We definitely feel that. We live in a one-bedroom apartment that we share."
Unaffordable housing hinders development
They said they've found it impossible to balance rent and tuition.
Leahy is working full-time and slowly making her way through a child and youth worker program, and she's seriously thinking of voting for whichever party provides the most financial relief for students.
The boost to the minimum wage helped her situation, but not enough.
Meanwhile, LeBlanc has had to halt her studies and put her plan to become a personal support worker on hold.
"If I can get someone to help me with school, I'll definitely be happy to go back," she said. "Money's been really the only thing keeping us out of class right now. It's where we want to be."
On the subject of housing and homelessness, LeBlanc echoed Heisler's point, saying the Salvation Army issue needs to be addressed and could "turn a lot of votes" in the Liberal stronghold.
Where the candidates stand
Local candidates began weighing in on that emotional issue long before the writ was drawn.
Last November, Liberal incumbent Nathalie Des Rosiers addressed a written statement to city councillors, saying a number of her constituents have raised concerns about changing the "character" of that stretch of Montreal Road.
In Lyra Evans's first media interviews following her nomination as NDP candidate, she brought up the issue, saying it's what prompted her to run in the first place.
Evans drew on her experiences as a homeless youth to suggest the move away from downtown services was "disregarding the needs" of the population the Salvation Army serves.
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PC candidate Fadi Nemr likewise said he's against the facility.
Some of the candidates running in the riding will speak to the housing issue on CBC Radio's All in a Day Wednesday afternoon.
Proper housing makes a difference
Whether it was the rising cost of gas or hydro prices, the need for improved pharmacare, or the suitability of housing options, people from Montreal Road to Beechwood Avenue expressed concerns about the growing unaffordability of basic necessities.
Sitting on a sunny patio in the Rockcliffe neighbourhood, Dana Ionescu and Caro Overdulve gave a different perspective to the housing issue.
They both live in supportive housing and rely on government benefits through the Ontario Disability Support Program.
"Proper housing, decent housing, not just like a slum place [is] something that makes a difference in somebody's life," said Ionescu.
After a combination of depression and psychosis stopped her from completing her political science degree, Ionescu struggled to bring her mental health issues under control.
More than a decade later, she's back in school and working part time teaching mental wellness and recovery workshops. She said having secure housing contributed to her success.
Issues can't be solved with housing alone
Overdulve, who is using medication to manage his schizophrenia, also heralded his supportive housing as key to his stability.
Before moving to the neighbourhood, Overdulve lived in another area of the city where there was a number of community housing units — and more crime.
"You don't want to cluster them all into one area," he said.
Having lived through experiences like those who use Salvation Army services, Overdulve also said he doesn't believe the issue can be solved with shelters alone.
"Guaranteed basic income would help a lot of people [below the poverty line] and it would eliminate a lot of the problems," he said.
So would allowing people on ODSP to keep more of the money they earn.
"We're not looking for a handout."
With files from Matthew Kupfer