No Response From Conservatives as Affordable Housing Picks Up Steam as an Election Issue

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 30, 2015) - One week after big city mayors called for federal parties to address the affordable housing crisis and make housing an election issue, the Conservative Party has remained silent.

Today, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) released a report card on the federal parties' affordable housing platforms, with a failing grade for the Conservatives. The Conservative Party was the only one that did not respond to ACTO's survey. Each party's platform was measured against key policy changes being advocated for by groups and affordable housing experts across Canada during the September 23^rd-30^th National Week of Action on housing. Former Ontario Housing Ministers¹ and Senator Art Eggleton² have also publicly called for federal attention to housing this week.

A recent poll³ finds that although sixty-nine percent of Canadian households are home owners, over half across Canada would support a political party that makes affordable housing a priority for those who are working poor, low income and homeless, and would support financial investment of two billion dollars per year.

"Canada is the only G8 nation without a national housing strategy. Canadians recognize that we are in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, and we will vote for a party that prioritizes the issue," said Helen Luu of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.

ACTO will be hosting a pre-election forum on affordable housing at 6:30pm today at Ryerson University, featuring Leilani Farha (United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing), Alex Neve (Secretary General for Amnesty International Canada) and other guests, including several with lived experience of homelessness. The forum will also be broadcast live online.

For more information and to view the report card, along with each party's full response: http://www.acto.ca/en/community-campaigns/federal-election-2015/2015-report-card.html

For information about the pre-election forum on affordable housing: https://righttohousing.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/right-to-housing-forum-september-30th/

¹ Former Ontario housing ministers launch citizens' campaign for public housing (http://www.thestar.com/news/federal- election/2015/09/24/former-ontario-housing-ministers-launch-citizens-campaign-for-public-housing.html)

² Art Eggleton: Affordable housing should be a federal election issue (http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/09/28/art-eggleton- affordable-housing-should-be-a-federal-election-issue)

³ Over Half of Canadians Would Support a Political Party That Makes Affordable Housing a Priority, New Poll Finds(http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/-2057758.htm )