Last week, The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) organized a three-day symposium on the Right to Housing initiative. ACTO has been involved in the Right to Housing Charter Challenge that went before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice this past May. Please see this article, “Court dismisses landmark Charter challenge on behalf of homeless Canadians” for more details.
The Right to Housing Symposium brought activists, advocates, community workers and people with lived experience together in the same room, over the course of three days to share their insights, ideas, challenges and successes with regard to the fight for the right for housing. The first day, International Strategies for Action: A Right to Housing Community Forum was held on the Ryerson University Campus and was open to the public. Speakers included Miloon Kothari, Ex-UN Rapporteur on Housing from India, Fiona King, a Policy Expert from Shelter Scotland and Rob Robinson, an Activist from Take Back the Land in New York.
The second day, A Road to Home: the Right to Housing in Canada and Around the World, was a full-day event at Daniels Spectrum, where people from all over the world shared their expertise, experience and approaches. The Right to Housing Coalition Session at The Wellesley Institute on the third day brought together policy experts, lawyers, advocates, activists and people who have experienced homelessness and other forms of oppression to discuss, brainstorm and problem-solve around approaches to ending homelessness in Canada.
It was an event that impacted every individual who was involved and will continue to shape the landscape of the Right to Housing initiative for years to come. It was about building community, ideas and strategies for change: about hope, optimism, and a fundamental belief that housing is a human right and we will not give up the fight.
For more information, please visit:
