Carey Doberstein’s book on homelessness governance
I’ve just reviewed Professor Carey Doberstein’s book on homelessness governance (UBC Press). The book looks at the way decisions were made pertaining to funding for homelessness programs in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto during the 1995-2015 period.
Points raised in my review include the following:
-Homelessness trends look quite different across the three cities. For example, it can be growing in one city, but declining in another.
-One of the book’s main arguments is that better decisions pertaining to homelessness programming are made when multiple stakeholders are engaged in decision-making early and often.
-The book argues that Vancouver and Calgary have done a relatively good job of such engagement—more so than Toronto.
My full review can be read here.
(A modified version of this review will appear in an upcoming edition of the Canadian Journal of Political Science.)
Re: Death at Vancouver Tim Hortons highlights widening front line in homelessness,
DERRICK PENNER, June 6, 2018
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/death-at-vancouver-tim-hortons-highlights-widening-front-line-in-homelessness
Changes in the housing market are leading to more sick and aging people finding themselves on the streets – witness the recent death of a homeless senior inside a Vancouver Tim Hortons all-night coffee shop.
Urgent remedial action is required. Yet in Vancouver, federal spending on homelessness is only one-twentieth of that provided by the province. This is the same federal government that has just found $4.5 billion to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline, with at least another $7 billion needed to finish the project.
Our local Liberal MPs might urge their Ottawa masters to devote as many resources to expediting emergency housing that meets the needs of ordinary people as to meeting deadlines and ultimatums set by big oil and gas companies.
Footnotes:
1. Nick Falvo: Ten things to know about Carey Doberstein’s book on homelessness governance
behindthenumbers
… in Vancouver, provincial spending on homelessness exceeds federal spending on homelessness by a 20:1 ratio (if one includes capital funding).
2. Canada Buys Pipeline as Oil Bubble Is About to Burst
thetyee
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just dropped $4.5 billion of taxpayers’ money on a 67-year-old pipeline, with at least another $7 billion needed to finish what the private sector backed away from.