OPINION: We believe that the demands of this National Homeless Manifesto will be good for homeless men and women, and they were developed in part in consultation with people directly affected, writes Raymond Perrier.
It would be too easy to shrug off the municipal elections as a minor sideshow between now and Christmas. After all, isn’t this the “lowest” level of government? Does it matter who is in charge? And does anyone even know who their ward councillor is?
There are still people who say elections don’t change anything. But try telling that to someone in the UK who was for or against Brexit; or an American voter who was for or against Trump. Elections don’t change everything – but they certainly can change quite a lot! A local politician once insisted to me that homelessness was not “in her mandate” and so she did not see why the municipality should address it.
Sometimes the response was speedy; more often it was delayed. Some politicians and local government officials took advice from the NGOs who understand the field, some did not, and some just ignored the advice they asked for. We have created a National Homeless Manifesto which focuses on the five areas where municipalities can make most impact on the lives of homeless people: shelter, sanitation, health care, security and work.
The demands are not only specific and local: they are affordable, manageable and direct. In some cases, there is a cost involved, but it is much less than the cost of not doing something.
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