Make housing the priority for 'shovel-ready' federal dollars
For the first time in a generation, the federal government is poised to become a major partner in social housing development in Canada. This creates real opportunities for housing advocates and providers who, after decades as lone voices in the political wilderness, have ready-made solutions for ending homelessness. The challenge today is to mobilize "shovel ready" projects that will provide non-market homes in the near-term. We are living in interesting times. Economic recession has dealt a swift blow to the tired neo-liberal mantra of "lean government." Faced with a massive credit crunch and slumping real estate, construction, resource, and manufacturing sectors, politicians across the political spectrum are embracing the Keynesian option of "interventionist government" -- hoping to spend their way out of what may be the deepest recession since the 1930s.

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