{"id":475620,"date":"2022-01-19T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environmentaldefence.ca\/?p=32166"},"modified":"2022-01-19T12:00:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T12:00:24","slug":"spokespeople-available-to-comment-on-the-provincial-municipal-housing-summit-including-housing-affordability-facts-and-key-required-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/19\/spokespeople-available-to-comment-on-the-provincial-municipal-housing-summit-including-housing-affordability-facts-and-key-required-actions\/","title":{"rendered":"Spokespeople available to comment on the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit, including housing affordability facts and key required actions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation \u2013 Today, Premier Doug Ford and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark are meeting with Ontario\u2019s Big City Mayors and Regional Chairs at the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit<\/em>. The government says this meeting will aim to \u201ctackle the issue of housing affordability.\u201d However, Minister Clark\u2019s recent statements suggest any discussion on the well-founded concerns about out-of-reach rents and home prices will be little more than a pretext to demand urban boundary expansions onto farms and forests and the reduction of environmental protections, neither of which will increase housing supply or address affordability.<\/p>\n

Environmental Defence spokespeople are available for interviews about the key facts and actions required for housing affordability that should be part of the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit.<\/em> Additional information and data are available in this backgrounder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There is no shortage of land to build homes:<\/strong> Constrained housing supply and high home prices are not due to a lack of developable land. On the contrary, there is more than enough land inside existing urban boundaries in most regions to meet growth needs for at least 20 years.<\/li>\n
  2. We need to build homes where people want to live:<\/strong> Inadequate housing supply is one of the factors behind rising rents and home prices, but this problem can be traced to a failure to add enough new housing to existing neighborhoods and built-up areas, particularly those well served by public transit, and well-suited to getting around on foot.<\/li>\n
  3. There are known solutions that will support building more homes where they are needed:<\/strong> We can meet demand for housing of all types by ending \u201cexclusionary zoning\u201d of single family homes, making efficient use of existing \u201cgreenfield\u201d land, intensifying around public transit, and other policies aimed to create a variety of home types in the places people want to live and where it is cheaper and more environmentally responsible to house them.<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cSprawl and Highway\u201d planning makes housing less affordable:<\/strong> The proposed 413 and Bradford Bypass highways, and recent changes to the Growth Plan<\/em> won\u2019t just destroy farmland, forests and wetlands. They\u2019ll also push development into costly, low-density forms and locations that force residents to squander income on multiple automobiles.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more information on each of these items please read this backgrounder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    WHAT:<\/strong> Interview opportunities with Environmental Defence spokespeople about the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit <\/em>including housing affordability key facts and required actions<\/p>\n

    WHEN:<\/strong> Wednesday January 19, 2022<\/p>\n

    WHO:<\/strong> Tim Gray, Executive Director, Environmental Defence; Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager, Environmental Defence<\/p>\n

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca<\/a>): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.<\/p>\n

    \u2013 30 \u2013<\/p>\n

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact: Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, abraude@environmentaldefence.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

    The post Spokespeople available to comment on the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit, including housing affordability facts and key required actions<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation \u2013 Today, Premier Doug Ford…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

    The post Spokespeople available to comment on the Provincial-Municipal Housing Summit, including housing affordability facts and key required actions<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":717,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,24076],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475621,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475620\/revisions\/475621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}