Homelessness in Waterloo Region
The Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Network has been restructured and renamed the Waterloo Region Housing and Homelessness Umbrella Group. A website was launched in November 22, 2006. For current information about the activities of the HHUG go to www.hhug.ca
This homelessness webpage will maintain archival material from the Homelessness Network
Letter to Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, May 17, 2004
Dear Brad Duguid:
The Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Network is a non-partisan collective of housing providers, service agencies, businesspersons, local governments, funders, volunteers, persons with lived homelessness experience, and other concerned citizens. Under a slightly different name, we authored our region’s Community Homelessness Plan as required by the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative, and welcomed that funding warmly. We advocate with all levels of government concerning the needs of the homeless, those recovering from homelessness, and those at risk of becoming homeless. We believe public awareness and education are key components to ending homelessness. We value sustained solutions, and doing things properly over doing them quickly or cheaply. Finally, we would rather collaborate with governments than fight them.
The Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Network recently learned that landlords who spoke at the town hall here in Waterloo, are speaking out at other town halls around the province. We commend you for noticing their tactic. The Homelessness Network asks you take the obvious next step and forbid this practice. A person is only allowed to speak once at a town hall until after everyone wishing to speak has spoken. It follows, then, that a person, or group, should only be allowed to speak at one town hall. We ask only that this be a fair and honest consultation. Please weigh each message you hear fairly, independent of how often, or loudly, one repeats himself.
Mr. Duguid, these landlords remind us of children, spoiled brats on the playground. They hog the microphones like children who won’t share their toys. When they cannot win playing by the rules, they break the rules. And whine about how unfair the rules are. They spout dire warnings of coming disaster, like Chicken Little yelling, “The sky is falling. The sky is falling.” It is high time these people grew up.
Mr. Duguid, please do the right thing. If you recognize a speaker from a previous town hall, tell him, or her, to sit down and be quiet.
Sincerely,
Charles Nichols
Advocacy Chair
Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Network