Fred Victor Blog

An acquaintance of mine is fond of saying, “I don’t know where people think good societies come from, do they just drop out of the sky?” I think he is referring to people’s apparent lack of understanding or perhaps their conscious denial of the positive role of taxation in our lives and on our communities.

We all benefit from public services. In 2006, each Canadian on average enjoyed almost $17,000 worth of public benefits, including health care, education and training,
entitlement programs and infrastructure. The trouble is that we see this as our right by virtue of living in Ontario or Canada and we don’t make the critical connection between the taxes we pay and these benefits. Without a productive economy and an adequate and fair taxation system all these benefits eventually disappear or are diminished.

So we have a choice. Invest in people and communities through taxation or reduce Government’s ability to support individuals and communities, and hope that communities and businesses provide opportunity, livable wages, needed services and a functional and healthy society.

At Fred Victor, we get to see this issue through the lens of poverty and homelessness and our experience tells us that it’s no real solution to leave these public benefits to communities and businesses.

Social, health and housing services for low income people are still critically dependent on government funding (tax payer support). Fund raising and social entrepreneurship supplement this publicly-funded base, but cannot replace it. Low-income and homeless people would not have access to social benefits at all if there were not tax-funded programs that provide temporary-assistance in getting healthcare, housing, and employment. Whether because of socio economic circumstances, disability or trauma, many people are dependent on tax-funded services for a period in their lives.

Reducing this support (due to a diminished tax base) will mean higher levels of poverty and inequality, more violence, crime, homelessness and wasted human potential, which in turn reduce the quality of life for everyone in our society.

So next time you look at your pay stub and complain about the taxes you are paying, take a moment to think about the benefits you receive and the benefits that go to people less fortunate than you.

Mark Aston

Insite is a safe injection site located in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.  It has been operating for over eight years and is funded by both the Provincial Ministry of Health and Health Canada.  The purpose of Insite is to address the concentrated and acute health problems associated with street-based intravenous drug use in Vancouver’s East Hastings area. This is done through the provision of a safe use site, clean needles and needed health and social supports.  Insite is used by hundreds of people each day and successfully delivers first aid, addiction treatment and mental health supports to clients.  

Insite has been rigorously evaluated and the results are in.  It has reduced overdose risk (less people are dying), lowered levels of HIV risk behaviours (less individual infection and less cost to the health system), increased uptake of addiction treatment among Insite users, lowered levels of public injecting (and associated behaviours that can cause public disorder), increased safety for women users, and it has not caused increased drug use or crime in the neighbourhood.  By any objective assessment that is a very effective program.  And when you consider that it is supported by a substantive majority of Vancouverites you really have a winner.

Despite these facts there is still opposition to Insite.  The current Federal Government has attempted unsuccessfully to have the program closed.  A recent Supreme Court decision found supervised injection sites to be exempt from Federal drug laws.  In the ruling the court found that “Insite saves lives; its benefits have been proven, and there has been no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada during its eight years of operations.”

Even with this ruling the critics persist claiming that safe injection sites encourage drug use.  The reality is that Insite has not increased use – as demonstrated by the evaluation studies – but it has enabled safer use by people already addicted.  This distinction appears lost on those who favour ideology over facts. 

Recently this debate has migrated eastward to Ontario with the release of a feasibility study on safe injection sites authored by St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto.  In response to the study’s recommendations that both Toronto and Ottawa set up a network of sites to provide this needed health service, the Provincial Health Minister has declined to commit the Government to any action at this time, and has stated that the experts are divided on the results of safe injection sites.  I’m not sure which experts the Minister is referring to but my quick research turned up just one quasi academic critique from an on-line journal that reportedly received funding from the US Department of Justice. 

In Toronto there are approximately 9,000 intravenous drug users, and while the problem may be less geographically concentrated than the Vancouver situation, surely they could benefit from a similar approach. 

At Fred Victor, we see the negative impact of addictions on people’s lives every day and we also see that people who “use” are underserved by our health and social service systems.  A network of health service organizations that provide space and supports for safer injection drug use, in addition to the many other health services that they provide is urgently needed in Toronto,  not a single site like Vancouver, but a system that provides adequately and humanely for the needs of poor and marginalized people with serious addictions. 
Think about it.  Less harm to individual Torontonians and less harm to our communities.  Let’s start talking and planning to make these services a reality in Toronto.

Mark Aston 

The recent Provincial budget contains nothing to boost the hopes of Ontarians in need of affordable housing, despite the fact that 152,000 households in the province are currently on the waiting list for an affordable housing unit. 

The budget for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has been cut for the fourth time in four years and is down 12 per cent since 2009. Lacking is also the senior government funding to support municipalities in implementing the Long Term Affordable Housing  Strategy, and adequate local plans for housing and homelessness.

The 2012 Federal Budget has also reduced resources to housing by cutting $131million from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation - our national housing agency.

So why the poor record on housing?  Well, for starters, it’s not an election issue.  When we have the opportunity to tell our politicians what is important to us, affordable housing never makes the list. 

I have a simple explanation for this.  The majority of us don’t have a personal connection to affordable housing.  In contrast, most of us have visited an emergency room, an after – hours clinic or a doctor’s office in the past year.  So when the government talks about emergency room wait times or access to family doctors we can all relate to these issues in a very personal way.  These are issues that cut broadly across the population.

Then there are the issues, like affordable housing, that are perceived as being relevant only to a specific segment of the population.  Let’s face it, the majority of people including myself have never lived in affordable housing, and many of these same people, despite the economic uncertainty of our times, do not envision this changing.  So affordable housing becomes something that other people need, not a priority for most voters.

I would like to propose a different point of view:  That affordable housing should be of interest to all of us because it is good social policy on many levels.

Affordable housing is a critical social determinant of health.  In simple terms, decent housing helps people stay healthy, which in turn reduces health service costs.

It is also a key component of an effective poverty reduction strategy.  Affordable housing enables low income households to access needed food, clothing and transportation, which in turn can support involvement in training, education and employment. 

Affordable housing is also critical to building and maintaining good communities that are diverse, vibrant and productive; communities that can provide opportunities to all their residents.

Not addressing our need for affordable housing means we continue to see tens of thousands of households access the shelter system each year in Ontario.  It also means that many families continue to reside in inappropriate and unsafe accommodations and are not supported in reaching their potential.  I received the following email a couple of weeks ago. 

Hi,

My name is ____________, application number is _____________. I've been on the waiting list for Toronto Housing for more than 6 years now and I am writing because of my situation.

Currently I am living in a cold, moldy and no ventilation basement apartment, I would not have a problem with it if it was just me but now I am expecting my first child, I am 7 months pregnant. The reason that I reach out is because I am very desperate to move as I suffer from severe allergies and Rheumatoid Arthritis which makes my pregnancy high risk as I am on steroids.

Because I am so desperate and this situation is just awful is the reason that I am reaching out to you, if I could rent a regular nice apartment I would do so but my credit score is not good due to my student loans and this makes it impossible to rent in Toronto unless it's a dungeon basement, which I currently live in.

 At the moment I am on Employment Insurance, due to sickness and maternity, and rent is starting to take a toll on my finance as I pay $695 each month on just rent.

I really need help, I am in an awful situation, as it is very cold in the apartment, moldy and I get stiff due to my arthritis. I am begging for help, I know there is something that can be done I don't want to get worse and put my baby at risk. If you wish you can send someone to my home and see this siuation I live and you will understand why I am so upset, this situation has made me depressed. Please help.

Please let me know if there is a program I should know about, or if there is an office I can go to, if there is any assistance that can be provided to me.