In an effort to gauge how people in the community - as well as the front-line organizations they depend on - are dealing with the economy, a non-for-profit organization, The Recession Relief Coalition, held a town hall meeting in the afternoon of Feb. 9 at The Church of the Holy Trinity.
The purpose of the event was to have an open discussion with community leaders and political representatives about important issues plaguing the community such as poverty, welfare, subsidized housing, and access to relief resources.
According to the coalition, the non-profit sector is still feeling the effects of the economic downturn and is urging the government to maintain funding to important community resources they offer.
"Over the past six months, we've seen the number of people lining up for food go from 50 per day to over 100 per day," said Paddy Bowen, executive director of the St. Felix Centre in Toronto, in a media release. "We are now seeing many more families with children and more new Canadians than at any time in our 70 year history.
"The St. Felix Centre is hard pressed to cope with the increased demand, as it is more difficult to find donations."
Michael Shapcott is another concerned member of the non-profit sector. What's fueling his worries is a growing list of names on a memorial plaque placed outside the church. Four more names were added to it Tuesday: Cecil 'Tony' Barron, Christopher Berry, Martin Blackwind, Ali Mohammed. All of these people were homeless and lived on the city streets.
"I've been coming here every month for many years... too many years," said Shapcott, who works for the National Housing and Homelessness Network. "Every month we add more names of women and men who died on the streets of Toronto."
Shapcott says housing and homelessness issues directly affect people's health and their ability to lead healthy lives. This is why he wants to see the federal government come up with a cohesive plan to battle this ongoing issue.
But so far, he says they haven't shown any signs of that, and a proposed bill aimed to create a nationwide affordable housing plan hasn't been well received by the Harper government.
"The Conservatives are the only political party opposing Bill C-304," he said. "They seem to be blocking it at every instance and it speaks very eloquently to their lack of commitment to fundamental issues like housing, homelessness and poverty."
The bill, which was introduced last year by the NDP's Vancouver MP Libby Davies, will go through its third and final reading when Parliament resumes in March.
And while the Ontario government has pledged to come up with a housing strategy in the spring, Shapcott says it's time for the federal government to step up to the plate.
"The names listed out there (on the plaque) are real people who are victims of a nationwide housing crisis," he said. "We can turn it around and make it a thing of the past, but we need the application of resources and political commitment."
Scarborough-Rouge River Liberal MP Derek Lee urged caution, saying problems like this cannot be fixed by simply throwing money at it.
"The issue of poverty encompasses a huge swath of Canadians," he said. "This is why we must have a long-term strategy in place to reduce poverty across Canada."
Another topic of discussion was employment insurance reform. Under the current system, once a claim has been processed, a person has to wait two weeks to get compensation, and that's assuming they have the hours to qualify. Lee is calling for an overhaul to the system.
"The system needs to be reworked," he said. "We (the Liberals) support a thorough review to rework the requirements of the system so it's balanced and it serves the needs of the workers."
Under current conditions a worker, typically, needs to have racked up between 420 and 700 hours to qualify for E.I. benefits, but the Liberals have said in the past they would bring that number down to 360. They also want to make these conditions universal across Canada. As of now, the hourly requirements vary from province to province.
While a representative from the Conservatives wasn't on hand for the town hall discussion, they have been critical of the idea and have said in the past that changing the qualifications to get E.I. benefits could result in higher payroll taxes.
NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) added "poverty is an issue that the federal government can't ignore, and although there will be many issues facing the economy this year, this issue, along with affordable housing, will be ones the government won't be able to ignore."
To find out when the next Recession Relief Coaliton meeting takes place or to voice your concerns, visit www.recession-relief-coalition.org