City-wide housing march, July 16th 2014
This Sunday an unusual Affordable Housing Rally will be held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The stated goal of the rally is to attract Vancouver’s middle class residents, “young professionals,” and “well educated people” who #DontHave1Million. In the words of the organizers, the rally seeks to amplify the voices of an “increasingly incensed population of Vancouverites who by comparison live pretty privileged lives.” In a city with deepening poverty and a long history of working class housing movements, the event has been interpreted as a bold shift capable of highlighting the housing aspirations of Vancouver’s relatively affluent.
The story goes that Vancouver is becoming home to the poor and the rich, with no place for the so-called middle-class. For years this has been the official policy of the Vision-led municipal government, whose own “bold” housing strategy excludes those who make under $21,000, as was first outlined with the terms of reference for the Mayor’s Task Force on Affordability. Instead of supporting those at the bottom, official city policy offers tax breaks to developers to build expensive market units for the middle and upper classes. The effect of prioritizing aspiring home-buyers is that Vancouver’s low-income housing stock is being eroded everywhere from the West End and City Centre to the Eastside, creating another spike in homelessness.
These politics of the status quo are reflected in the programing for Sunday’s rally. Working class organizations have been all but excluded. The Social Housing Alliance, which has been organizing around housing and homelessness in BC since 2012, asked to be included in the event but were declined by the organizers. Likewise, the Power of Women, which has organized the Women’s Housing March since 2007, is not listed as participants or speakers. Nor have the DTES SRO Collaborative or Carnegie Community Action Project, or any other representatives from low-income, racialized, or Indigenous movements who are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis.
Instead, the speakers list consists of Wes Regan, executive director of the Hastings Crossing (DTES) Business Association (BIA). By advancing the interests of the gentrifying businesses, Regan and the BIA have been key players in the aggressive gentrification of the DTES. Another speaker will be Tony Roy, executive director of the neoliberal BC Non Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA). For the last few years the BCNPHA has been pushing BC’s housing non-profits to embrace the expiry of operating agreements as an emerging opportunity for private public redevelopment schemes. Also invited to speak is the author of the blog post The Decline of Vancouver, which recapitulates the usual scapegoating of foreigners for the housing crisis while obscuring the role of the local elite installed at every level of government.
In short, evictions, displacement, substandard housing, and homelessness will not be acknowledged this weekend – even while the demand for middle-class homeownership directly contributes to these problems.
The myth of trickle down affordability
So why organize a housing rally exclusively for the middle class? The case goes something like this: helping the middle class will help everyone. To do this we need solutions targeting the housing problems facing the middle class, especially affordable forms of homeownership.
The idea of trickle down affordability, also known to economists as ‘filtering theory,’ is not new. The theory of filtering, developed by right-wing think tanks in the United States in the 60s and 70s, refers to the assumption that when housing units for the middle class are added to the market, tenants with lower incomes move up the housing commodity chain, leaving their previous affordable units available for others.
Many real estate corporations in Vancouver take filtering theory to its logical conclusion, arguing that the more condo units we add to the market, the more people we help by pulling tenants up the housing ladder, improving the average level of housing quality and affordability for everyone.
Studies of the Canadian housing market indicate that the effects of filtering theory are not only exaggerated, but nonexistent in terms of overall affordability. Andrejs Skaburskis’ 2006 research article concludes that, “the filtering process is both too slow and, at best, can have too small an effect to be part of a government strategy for reducing the housing burdens of low-income people. Filtering is not helping lower-income households.”
Through the daily process of gentrification, luxury and mid-level home ownership works against the existing stock of affordable housing. The people who are the worst affected by the housing crisis have repeatedly declared that the larger problem can’t be solved without addressing the problems facing low-income people.
What does it mean to propose homeownership as a solution to the housing crisis? It means that for-profit real estate corporations – and their parties at city hall – will continue to dominate our housing economy, when instead we need non-commodified social housing. It means that SROs will be turned into condos, that rents will rise across the board, and that working people will be displaced from their homes and neighbourhoods.
It is also important to reflect on what it means to rally in favor of property ownership in a city like Vancouver, located on unceded Coast Salish territories. The model of property ownership and the commodification of land is at the origins of the housing crisis, which for Indigenous people dates back to the beginning of colonialism. Vancouver is experiencing not just a housing crisis – it’s a land crisis. Without acknowledging this fact, we are just repeating history.
Housing hierarchy perpetuates the crisis
One of the organizers of the event, Eveline Xia, repeatedly makes the point that she has a Master of Science and still can’t afford to live in the city. The fact that “respected professionals” and people with a “good education” can’t afford to live in the city is repeatedly stressed. And of course this fact is a true sign that the city is absurdly unaffordable. However, this way of approaching the problem only reinforces the idea that middle class people deserve to access home ownership and other settler-colonial entitlements. It assumes that certain people have truly earned the right to stay in the city, emphasizing the division between seemingly deserving and undeserving residents.
Last year at the City Wide Housing March, Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS) president, Tracey Morrison, gave a moving speech about how she had to almost die in order to get housing. Only when she was lying at the intensive care unit was she offered housing by Atira housing society. People in Tracey’s situation will not be represented or heard this Sunday. Instead of Tracey, you will hear about how hard it is for Eric and Ilsa to build a house with enough space for their live-in nanny and their combined income of $360k per year. It is a shame, because it is only through the leadership of Tracey, not Eric and Ilsa that Vancouver’s housing crisis can be genuinely confronted.
We challenge the organizers to stand by their word to take “a lesson from those less fortunate than us who have endured their own housing crisis for much longer. It’s time to follow their lead. It’s time to stand up for ourselves and for our communities. It’s time to stand with them too.” As a starting point, invite low-income speakers to the rally, reach out to low-income residents, centre the housing problems faced by the majority, not the minority. Take leadership from the Indigenous residents whose land we stand on, land that has never been ceded, and who despite only making up 2% of the population in the city make up over 32% of the homeless population.
Douglas Bjorkman
May 24, 2015 at 10:28 am
I’m not sure what the point of this posting is. If it is that this rally is absurd and no right thinking person can or should support it there can be no argument. However if it is that even stupid and deluded people with self-serving positions should not be allowed to hold a rally I must disagree. There are important values of free speech to be considered and as well they expose some of the underlying situation so that the contrast between the so called “problem of the middle class” can be contrasted with the real problems of the poor.
In fact the middle class does have some difficulties too caused by income inequality. And as soon as the critical problems of the poor are taken care of we should get right on them. But there needs to be prioritization.
Part of the prioritization must also deal with the the statistic concerning our indigenous residents which should make every
citizen ashamed
gpayerle
May 24, 2015 at 12:19 pm
I think the point of posting this article is to make the facts clear. I had thought that this rally was very much in support of the homeless and other poor persons.
Dan
May 24, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Every city has a class of poor people. But the difference between the best and worst cities is the size of the middle class. Vancouver’s middle class is being pushed out by international money laundering on a grand scale. The poor will be worse off if the doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. all leave.
Chris
May 24, 2015 at 2:53 pm
You lost me at “settler-colonial entitlements.” This is a completely different issue than affordable housing. People need to speak together and ask for the same things with one voice – that has proven time and time again to get results. Currently this is a loud rabble of angry voices speaking over each other, trying to outdo each other in the “special need” competition. “Who cares about your middle class problems when x is even worse off?” will never get anywhere.
While people yell over each other and fight for attention, “money” is talking loudly and clearly and is the only message getting through.
Tony
May 24, 2015 at 3:46 pm
Did you even finish reading the article? Or did you start forming your reply before even finishing?
“As a starting point, invite low-income speakers to the rally, reach out to low-income residents, centre the housing problems faced by the majority, not the minority. Take leadership from the Indigenous residents whose land we stand on, land that has never been ceded, and who despite only making up 2% of the population in the city make up over 32% of the homeless population.”
Hugo
May 24, 2015 at 5:35 pm
You have to admit, it’s pretty depressing that no matter how hard you work, or what kind of high paying job you have, it’s still nearly impossible to buy a house in Vancouver (nobody really wants condos because they suck).
However, rather than complain, I just save my money. I have enough to buy a decent house pretty well anywhere else besides the lower mainland, and growing every day.
The trick is, make good money in the big city, but don’t spend it in the big city. Not sure what that’ll do for the Vancouver economy if everyone starts doing it, but I don’t really care because I’ll be watching it all crash and burn from some other city.
I’m not from Vancouver, so I don’t really care about it. I guess people who were born here must be kinda choked if they’re planning to stay.
julia
May 24, 2015 at 8:08 pm
No, no Dan, you have it all wrong. Vancouvers destiny lies in housing for the very rich and the very poor. Average, educated, professionals? Who needs them. Obviously, as Maria and Nathan write, the working non- home owning, indebted middle class are the real problem in Vancouver.
me
May 24, 2015 at 10:35 pm
The point of rallies is to draw in support. Causes morph as the draw in larger constituencies. The rally was more then as predicted because more people attended and spoke out.
Tamara
May 24, 2015 at 10:50 pm
As a relatively “middle class” person here, I am completely disgusted by the classist, exclusionary angle of the rally. Yes, Vancouver is unaffordable for me, but any movement for housing justice that’s anchored in half-decent politics – and can actually hope to transform anything – will have people who are most deeply affected at its heart and centre. There are so many lessons for organizers to learn from movements around the world that don’t further entrench class lines. This has nothing to do with Vancouver being worse off if the middle class is decreased or pushed out. It has to do with organizing with integrity, analysis, and respect. Great article, Mainlander.
Wesley
May 25, 2015 at 7:57 am
Eveline and I made a point of drawing attention to the fact that middle-income earners can’t have our housing crisis solved by putting further pressure on low-income communities and converting SROs into student housing and “affordable condos” etc. in the piece you quote. That we had a moral obligation to stand up and demand government action instead of letting the market solve our housing needs by further displacing low-income housing stock. That middle income need to see our housing crisis as directly connected to lower-income housing crisis and we need to stand together and demand better of our government. This was a start, and it brought together constituents who otherwise are not usually out demanding government action on housing. It would’ve been great if you had reached out to Eveline and the organizers before just slamming the whole thing as an entitled pro-gentrification rally. It’s the first rally she has ever organized. Don’t we want people to be supported in calling out government inaction when we need public housing and senior levels back at the table? I’m sure she would have been 100% open to having some of those organizations you listed speak too Maria but the point was to show government that it is not just low-income who are strained, or social-justice activists who are organizing and demanding action – it is otherwise privileged middle-class voters/residents who are now sharing in that outrage. Eveline organized a rally and pulled her constituents or friends and associates together to raise awareness of a crisis affecting a group of people who have otherwise not done so. She has every right to as a citizen and resident. Rather than belittle that, it would be great to engage that and help her and everyone connect it better to low-income housing advocacy and start forming a unified front.
Douglas Bjorkman
May 25, 2015 at 9:25 am
There are a number of factors that determine the merits of cities and no doubt the size of the middle class is one of them. But to suggest that is a more important factor than how the most unfortunate members of society are treated is simply callous. This is easily demonstrated by imagining a city in which the middle class is growing but the poor go from being a class of equal size and working poor to homeless and utter deprivation. Is that city a better city? I suggest not.
diane leC
May 25, 2015 at 9:40 am
entrenced race and class lines. for me; it is unfortunate that for profit housing will never acknowledge housing as an affordable Right that does not need to be about home ownership. many of us will never aspire to home ownership. especially those of us who, more and more, cannot afford to rent. Shitty Hall and the feds don’t mind that the public purse goes to funding the building/ construction of Prisons – even for those of us who are forced to steal a loaf of bread, jaywalking; whatever. I f will die before i allow anyone to evict me.
Wesley
May 25, 2015 at 9:41 am
So it’s come to my attention (thank you Tamara) that the organizers actually declined interest from the Social Housing Alliance to participate. I’m really disappointed to hear that, and I thought that this article was just discounting the whole thing altogether. So I apologize if I sounded curt at times. I hope there’s an opportunity for a joint action of some kind together in the future. One of the reasons I agreed to speak was that I think it’s important that middle classed privileged people try to shed our false consciousness so that we can be aware of our privilege but also that our struggles connect with those less fortunate than us, and that we need to see how their struggles connect to our struggles. For me this was an opportunity to raise attention to the fact that senior levels of government have turned their backs on Canadians and have come to play a central role in the creation of and solution to the housing crisis. Whether it is funding co-op housing, public housing, supportive housing or other types along the continuum of housing.
diane leC
May 25, 2015 at 10:09 am
people r becoming homeless and dying cuz of lack of affordable Rents. there r those of us who will never aspire to home ownership or that kind of supposed security. we know what happened to some people in the States who so badly wanted the so-called security of home ownership that they overextended on mortgages and the banks foreclosed.
the government bailed out the banks!
Not so for those of us under threat of homelessness cuz we cannot afford the rents. No to evictions – “over my dead body” is in reference to the fact that i am willing to die where i now reside before i allow anyone to try to evict me. I have had to move too many times chasing the dragon of “affordable rent”. Race and class r entrenched and i am not willing to have to be displaced – no more!!
Shitty Hall is enabling Development for Profit cuz Ownership brings in property taxes. Investment Developers r the profiteers who r not necessarily of any particular race but u can bet that they themselves r not faced with paying the rent or getting evicted.
Maria Wallstam and Nathan Crompton
May 25, 2015 at 10:15 am
Hi Wes, I appreciated the recognition that the housing solutions for the middle class often come at the cost of low-income residents. I also appreciated the analysis around the loss of funding for affordable housing in the article. However, none of that seemed to translate into the organizing of the actual rally, nor did it seem to translate into any kind of questioning or reworking of the #donthave1million slogan.
Apparently someone from an Ontario-based housing org recommended to Eveline (and maybe other organizers) that she connect with SHA and try to reframe the rally around rental housing instead of ownership – they did neither. This was in early May. Instead SHA (which I am part of) decided to reach out to to the organizers directly, we wanted to participate in the rally. We saw that nobody on the speakers list was going to speak about homelessness, loss of low-income housing and displacement so we asked if we could be included on the speakers list, and well the rest is history – she said no.
And hell why didn’t anyone, like you or anyone else who is not new to housing politics, say “hey, do you know about Power of Women, they have been organizing housing rallies in the city since 2007, or CCAP they have been doing really amazing work in the DTES, organizing renters in Chinatown and undertaking crucial research about the loss of affordable SRO’s in the DTES, or VANDU, they organized a kick ass city-wide housing march last year”?
The onus is not on VANDU to reach out to middle class professionals (who are incidentally also displacing them from their communities) – no matter how inexperienced the middle class professional are at organizing. To the contrary, the organizers should have taken the time and effort to research housing issues, reach out to low-income housing groups, who have been putting their blood, sweat and tears into this issue for decades.
-Maria
ridgwayj
May 25, 2015 at 10:24 am
I agree Wesley. I think the fact that the crowd at the rally wasn’t your average protester made it stand out more to the country when it aired on CBC national.
d.b. declare
May 25, 2015 at 11:40 am
senior levels of government need to bring back Rent Controls and Shitty Hall needs to stop enabling Developers cuz those property taxes cushion the shrinking public purse. WE know that the public purse is shrinking cuz the super-rich get to hide their profits in many loopholes.. the public purse is derived from taxpayers (the so-called “worthy” ones). some of us cannot afford to pay high taxes but we do pay sales taxes – if we can afford to purchase “luxury items” or buy anything more than a loaf of bread.
meanwhile the Feds choose to fund the construction of prisons rather than affordable public housing. A municipal tax collected base also depends on the taxes raised from property taxes so we can see why Shitty Hall is encouraging/enabing Developers to build for profit home ownership. it has been said that the poor get away with paying taxes but it is the filthy rich who r enabled by all levels of government. Corporate Rule – everywhere. this is the quote i was looking for:
the law in it’s majestic “equality”, forbid the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread
do we see any casino capitialists sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets or stealing bread? they have no trouble stealing profits.
and to the man who says that he is saving up to buy property out of the city; Who gets to save when the cost of food and rent is going up? perhaps he isn’t a parent, yet? is he going to save up until he is sixty years old and he marries a woman of childbearing years? who gets to so-called “choose” to have children and afford to shelter, feed, clothe, etc. them? and some of us have gotten accused of “bad mothering” cuz we r a so-called drain on the public purse. foster care or adoption r supposed alternatives when we can no longer strain to keep our own children. we know that foster care has become a business where some so-called middle class white women (the so-called good mothers) get to take better care of native children when they r provided more government subsidized money than their own biological mothers. race & class r entrenched. we have divided interests. Home ownership, anyone?
Eveline
May 25, 2015 at 5:49 pm
Hi Maria – To clear the air, here is my email to Ivan Drury.
Hi Ivan,
Great that you got in touch. I was trying to reach all housing groups about a month ago and did manage to convince Tony Roy of the BCNPHA to speak. Unfortunately the speaker’s list is set and we’ve already had our organizing calls, and since this request is a little late, I’m truly sorry that I can’t accommodate. I’ve been declining people left, right and centre today, which isn’t something I like doing. I hope you’ll understand.
Did you see my Op-Ed in the Georgia Straight? http://www.straight.com/news/452346/eveline-xia-and-wes-regan-middle-income-earners-must-take-stand-affordable-housing
In there, Wes Regan and I talk about gentrification and low-income housing.
We fully understand that there are many people more in need of housing than us and I fully support the work that you do. Hopefully, if we’re successful in addressing the pressures at the home ownership front, it’ll ease the displacement effect on the rental stock that affect too many low-income people.
I do hope that even though I couldn’t accommodate you as a speaker, that we’ll still see you at the rally to fight for more housing equality for all – our targets are the same after all :)
Best wishes,
Eveline
Eveline
May 25, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Exclusionary angle of the rally? If you came and listened you would have heard about 1/3 of all our talking points was about helping low-income people. Melanie Mark, who lived in social housing, was the first speaker and welcomed us on behalf of the First Nations.
See my response to Maria below to Ivan from one of the housing groups that requested to speak, after the speaker’s list was set.
Eveline
May 25, 2015 at 6:14 pm
If the authors had talked to me before writing this article, they would have known this:
I declined Ivan from the SHA because he contacted me just four days before the rally. I had, by then, been declining EVERYONE. See my email to him above. Secondly, the speakers list was set according in order of speaker confirmation, I called BC Co-op Housing Fed to speak, they vocally supported me but wanted to focus on their own campaign, I called Tony Roy next, and he confirmed right away. Simple as that; there was no more space left. Prior to the rally, I was apologizing to lots of groups for not being able to fit them in, even though I fully support them…(Fightfor15, SHA, and at least 4 NDP politicians), it just wasn’t possible.
Secondly, noticed the banner ordered was “Affordable Housing Now” instead of the hashtag? That’s because I understood full well that the housing issue is complex, it affects everyone, and if you listen to my speech, I talk about the need for affordable rentals, seniors, students, and described the increasing homelessness in Vancouver as a moral outrage. See my speech here: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/we-need-affordable-housing-not-bachelor-pads-and-empty-homes
Other things that you may not know. My “M.Sc.” education means nothing. I worked for four years in environmental non profits including the David Suzuki Foundation – is that too elitist for you? My “M.Sc” was used because I didn’t have a job title at the time of the tweet.
tamara
May 26, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Eveline – not sure that the targets are the same, as you suggest. If people most vulnerable to the housing crisis weren’t invited/brought into your organizing process this early on, it’s hard to imagine that your end target would include them. The targets are backed by process. There are so many people, and so many ways, that you could have brought in the people most directly affected by this issue. You would have created an inclusive platform that would have built momentum to fight this issue without strengthening existing class lines. Instead, you replicated the “big tent” mistake that countless people who are thinking about and writing about organizing have been critiquing for decades. With all due respect to you and Wes, having self-identified “middle-income earners” making reference to the issues doesn’t cut it. Neither does having one speaker who lives in social housing, of – of all organizations! – the BCNPHA. It’s not even about having SHA come in as a speaker necessarily – it’s about acknowledging the rich history of housing justice organizing and giving space to those who have been fighting back in this city for decades. It’s about being thoughtful and inclusive in the way you’re approaching these issues. And yes, anyone has a “right” to organize an action, it’s just disappointing to me that self-identified “middle class privilege” people organizing a rally went and replicated their privilege instead of working to break it down…I’ve organized lots of rallies, and yes you do get last minute requests, but sometimes they are a gentle reminder that you’ve missed something in your planning.
tamara
May 26, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Eveline – I posted this earlier but am reposting to make sure you see it. not sure that the targets are the same, as you suggest. If people most vulnerable to the housing crisis weren’t invited/brought into your organizing process this early on, it’s hard to imagine that your end target would include them. The targets should be backed by process. There are so many people, and so many ways, that you could have brought in the people most directly affected by this issue. You would have created an inclusive platform that would have built momentum to fight this issue without strengthening existing class lines. Instead, you replicated the “big tent” mistake that countless people who are thinking about and writing about organizing have been critiquing for decades. With all due respect to you and Wes, having self-identified “middle-income earners” making reference to the issues doesn’t cut it. Neither does having one speaker who lives in social housing, of – of all organizations! – the BCNPHA, which is actually supporting BC Housing’s divestment from public housing right now. It’s not even about having SHA come in as a speaker necessarily – it’s about acknowledging the rich history of housing justice organizing and giving space to those who have been fighting back in this city for decades. It’s about being thoughtful and inclusive in the way you’re approaching these issues. And yes, anyone has a “right” to organize an action, it’s just disappointing to me that self-identified “middle class privilege” people organizing a rally went and replicated their privilege instead of working to break it down…I’ve organized lots of rallies, and yes you do get last minute requests, but sometimes they are a gentle reminder that you’ve missed something in your planning.
Maria Wallstam and Nathan Crompton
May 26, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Hi Eveline,
The article is not intended as a personal criticism and I realize it is hard to organize rallies. I am not so concerned about the details about the rally, as compared with the broader questions it raises. The emphasis on ownership, well educated young professionals, the lack of representation and collaboration with grassroots housing groups in many ways seems to reflect the general sentiment and priorities of the rally. At the end of the day, I don’t think it is a given that we are working towards the same targets. The organizers and the people who came to the rally want more home ownership, while the Social Housing Alliance for example (which I am part of) doesn’t.
I did know about the email to SHA before writing the article, in fact it is why I wrote the article. The point I was trying to make in the article is that the problem is not just that SHA was declined, but that there was no one from a grassroots housing group invited to participate in the rally as speakers or organizers. BCNHA is a massive non-profit housing corporation and Melanie Mark is an NDP politician, which is very different from any of the grassroots groups I mentioned. Giving passing mention to some of the key issues is not the same as working together, supporting, giving space to the actual people who are struggling against gentrification and displacement in this city.
On a last note, my intention was to publish the article ahead of the rally as a constructive criticism. Unfortunately, it was not ready to be published until the day off. In the weeks leading up to the rally, I hadn’t come across any debate or internal criticism of the hashtag, the focus on ownership etc which is why we felt it was necessary to write an article. Hopefully, this can be the start of a longer conversation.
-Maria
Wes
May 26, 2015 at 5:55 pm
So as all of this continues to be unpacked publicly on the Mainlander conversation thread I hope we can start to look towards holding an event or action of some kind that does bring together these different constituents in a more thoughtful and deliberate manner. I hope I’ll be welcomed there despite being involved in a press conference 3 years ago that somehow now negates all the work I’ve done to advocate for policy changes to curb retail gentrification in the DTES and protect low-income assets. Not to mention raising awareness of the problems created by gentrification with business owners in partnership with activists and non-profits… I also just want to acknowledge that a young, currently unemployed woman, organized a rally because she and her community are being affected (like all of us) by horrible public policy and government inaction…and that I would hope regardless of her level of education or class we would see this as a good thing. Something to build on and connect to. Not denigrate and dismiss. If a last minute request was a gentle reminder that something was missed, this has been a bludgeoning. I think it’s good that you’ve offered a critique of the whole event, keeping discourse evolving, but I think it has been done as a takedown piece “calling out” instead of “calling in” and yes I can understand that this may be a natural response to being declined to join as speakers. If I had known that SHA had approached the organizers I would have gladly swapped my place out. Next time, if the possibility of a next time is palatable to all of you, I look forward to hearing those different perspectives and seeing those different people standing together.
d.b. declare
May 27, 2015 at 8:09 am
bell hooks (2000, p. 70 Where We Stand: class matters; talks about how some poor people will aspire to some of the same goals as the Rich (Chap. 6 Being Rich). I don’t think that those of us in the lower income brackets can aspire to the security of home ownership – altho we wud welcome the opportunity of secure housing – even without becoming property owners.
seems to me that property ownership and affordable rents r not compatible interests but we do know that Investment Developers for Profit will only defer to aspiring home owners whilst exploiting their ability to purchase. Renters r also being exploited. Can renters and home owners ever have the same alliances?
Bruno Clapci
May 27, 2015 at 11:30 pm
I have been at the rally.The reason I came I thought we have started something constructive that includes everyone,but it didn’t.It is not just about young proffesionals the housing effects everyone.I thought that the microphones would be open to anyone who wanted to say another point of view and would be welcomed,but they were selfishly guarded just for the chosen ones.I hope that this idea continues,and includes everyone.
Jacob
June 25, 2015 at 7:36 pm
I needed a good LOL. The Mainlander always delivers. If the poorest, most malnourished people aren’t involved, we won’t get anywhere. Right. Middle classes are what pay the taxes that pay VANDU to pay people to show up at those rallies.
Stimpco
July 4, 2015 at 7:48 am
stopped reading at “settler-colonial entitlements”…. check your privilege at the door, Nat