I am not homeless because I'm on drugs or mentally ill, and I certainly don't need rehab. I once had a stable job until my company decided to restructure, leaving over 100 of us jobless. Like many people, I struggle to afford living expenses. In Ontario, the minimum wage is $17.20 per hour or approximately $2500 a month. If we are to consider "affordable" as being 30% of one's take-home pay, then rent, ideally, should be around $750. However, the harsh reality is that the average rent in Ontario is a staggering $2400. Our living condition is in no way sustainable.
Minimum wage is not meant to be exploitation. It's meant to be the minumum required to pay rent and live.

Doug Ford has redefined "affordable housing" as "80% of market rent." 80% of $2400 is $1920. This is nowhere near affordable for most of us.

In December 2024 during a brutal cold snap, an unhoused Toronto woman passed away in a Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot. Ford was probably at one of his two vacation homes.

It's high time that those responsible for setting our city's policies grasp the severity of homelessness and insufficient income firsthand. We ask for a requirement that every city council member, mayor, Sheriff, Member of Provincial Parliament, and Member of Parliament in Ontario, and across Canada, including Doug Ford and all Premiers, live in a tent city homeless encampment for a week. This proposal is not unheard of; judges, in past cases, have ordered slumlords to live in their shoddy properties. Their experiences in these circumstances provide a poignant lesson on the daily struggles faced by those without a home.

Let this serve as a tangible demonstration of the dire circumstances unhoused people contend with daily and as an impetus for change. Let's instigate policy reformation that makes room for affordable housing, practicing empathy, and prioritizing citizen welfare over corporate greed. Join us in demanding policy change for affordable housing. Let's advocate for a future where every Canadian has a home. Please, sign our petition.