Human Resources committee  As my colleagues have spoken about, we have an HPS program. We have shelters. We're actually reducing the number of shelter beds, because we have ascribed to and want to move forward on a housing first approach. I think I'm going to use the good words of my colleague beside me, w

Human Resources committee  The largest-growing population on our social assistance rolls right now in the city of London is men between the ages of 45 and 65. While I appreciate, Deirdre, your point about women, it's a huge problem for us in terms of how to support individuals who have been working in indu

Human Resources committee  I was raised in a small town in southern Ontario. I think a lot about my reality of living for 30 years now in a larger urban community, although when you ask me where my home is, I will tell you that it's that small community, that town in southern Ontario. I use the word “com

Human Resources committee  For us in the city of London, although there are other municipalities looking at changing this, if you're in need of assistance for housing, social assistance, perhaps child care support, and food security programs, you probably have to open seven doors. I only listed three thing

Human Resources committee  I can give you a great one. This is a recent one. We are the sixth-largest community in the province of Ontario, and we took the third-largest number of Syrian newcomers into our community. We put together a task force of 40 different agencies, stakeholders, community organizatio

Human Resources committee  I can do it in a few words: by asking the community what they want and then deciding how to move it forward. The challenge in that is asking agencies to give or to change, and that's troubling for some, frankly. It would be because they have employees, status, and those kinds o

Human Resources committee  In our community, as I said, many people live in poverty. A single person on Ontario Works, the support program that's run by the Province of Ontario, which we support, receives $8,000 a year. It is not sufficient. A basic income guarantee or a basic income project that the provi

Human Resources committee  Your point about not disadvantaging people by putting them into a system is a very important point, and we've started to think about this. Part of the challenge of putting ourselves forward as being interested in the pilot, which was in 2016, is that it has led us to thinking abo

Human Resources committee  Transportation is a huge issue even in a community like ours that has a transportation system. The transportation doesn't necessarily take people to where the jobs are. It doesn't necessarily take the children to where the schools are. The commitment that our council has made h

Human Resources committee  I think we've been very supported by the federal government in the gas tax monies that have come to our transit organizations. I think there is a recognition, to go back to an earlier question, that transit isn't just about building infrastructure. It's about providing services a

Human Resources committee  Sure. I appreciated the questions and the responses from my colleagues here at the table. To go back to a question that the MP asked earlier, it relates to the reality of the housing starts in our communities. In our community we have a need for safe, affordable, supportive hou

Human Resources committee  At the City of London we've developed a new housing development corporation. It's a stand-alone corporation. The shareholder is the City of London, but it's an opportunity for us to work with private partners and with the not-for-profit sector to take the development of housing o

Human Resources committee  Thank you so much. Bonjour, and thank you, Mr. Chair, vice-chairs, and members of the House of Commons standing committee. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to participate on this panel and to contribute to your discussions on poverty reduction. As you know, my name is Sandr