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THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2005 THE NEW TANNER 9: Halton's poor struggle to find affordable shelter - FCM Report Most people in Halton Region enjoy a high standard of living, according to a quality of life report released recently by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), but there is still lots of work to be done to improve the quality of life for those with household incomes insufficient to cover food and shelter costs. Rising shelter costs across Canada especially are mak- ing some of Canada's large urban areas too expensive for those on low incomes, the report finds. Low vacancy rates, rents with dramatic increases and long waiting lists for social housing are the result of a 50 percent drop in rental housing construction in the decade between 1991 and 2001, the FCM report main- tains. The gap between rents and incomes widened to the point where rents generally are unaffordable for those low incomes. The report covered 20 mu- nicipalities across Canada. In Halton, over the last ten years, more people with low incomes, such as sole sup- port parents, youth, seniors and the working poor, are spending over 30 per cent of their income on shelter, leaving insufficient funds for other necessities. "Halton remains a great place to live and work for - most people," said Regional Chairman Joyce Savoline. "However, Halton faces the same challenges as other Ca- nadian municipalities when it comes to lack of affordable housing and homelessness. It is time for action -- all levels of government need to work together to find solutions to this housing crisis, and we need to start now." Poverty is an issue affect- ing many communities as the gap between rich and poor widens. Halton, which enjoys one of the highest median family incomes in Canada, is not spared. In fact, someone who is poor by Canadian standards is relatively much further be- Decorated Yule trees sign of vanity - Jeremiah To whom it might con- cern: Re: the article on Christ- mas trees in The New Tanner of Dec. 23, 2004 "For the customs of the peoples are futile (vanity). For one cuts a tree from the forest. The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple." Jeremiah 10:3-4. W. Fountain, R.R.1, Acton. Read the eat Tanner for all your news and events the influence of alcohol. There's more to responsible drinking than taking a cab. Don't put yourself- of your family-- at risk to fire. It's a fact that many fire deaths are catised by people attempting to cook or smoke while under oe low the overall community standard in Halton, the report suggests. A separate report released by FCM last week, "Mov- ing Forward: Refining the FCM Recommendations for a National Affordable Housing Strategy," calls for a national housing strategy. The shortage of affordable housing can be attributed to the lack of new construction, slowness in mobilizing funds from the Federal-Provincial/ Territorial Affordable Hous- ing Program and a loss of existing affordable housing, it concludes. | Ol Nears OF KIA | "Municipal governments, already struggling in the face of shrinking resources and growing responsibilities, cannot respond to this grow- ing need on their own," says Ann MacLean, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The purpose of the reports is to provide the objective data needed to inform citizens and policy makers in all orders of gov- ernment of the true state of those factors that contribute to quality of life. Both reports are available on FCM's website at www. fem.ca. 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