When the building site shown above is completed, it will house 200 vet-
This is one of three emergency projects now under way
which will partially cope with Toronto’s desperate housing crisis. But

erans’ families.

the 600 homes are not enough.
tive was responsible for their
veterans’ families need homes

Controller Stewart Smith, whose initia-
erection, estimates that close to 2,006

tions. Appalled by their plisht the Toronto Labor Ceuncil last week .
appealed to federal, provincial, and municipal authorities for immediate
action. Controller Smith, with the active assistance of the other labor
aldermen in City Council, is waging a determined campaign to get
additional emergency projects established at once.

At least 2,300 vets

ODAY Canada’s hous-
> ing shortage adds up to
an acute national
argency which can only
solved by the most de-.
S\ined action on the part
he federal government.
sing projects don’t de-
_p overnight. If houses
sto be built this summer
* must be planned now.

that kind of action is Ot-
e taking?

%, paper, quite a lot. Inter-
irtmental committees on
‘ing abound. Proposals are
ained, re-examined; minutes
‘2irculated. Files accumulate
housing projects do not. It
's more than a pious reso-
n to build a house.

ynsider for a moment how
‘y Ottawa agencies have a
er in the housing pie. The
would be comic if the prob-
were not so serious. The
aary responsibility for the
ional Housing Act is vest-
in J. L. Isley, Department
Finance. C. D. Howe is con-
ied with Wartime Housing
- which at long last is build-
a few homes for veterans,
: Department of Veterans’
‘airs comes into the picture
ough the Veterans’ Land
5 which enables a veteran
buy a small holding on the
skirts of a town where he
3 a steady job.

@
ORE are yet to come.
Emergency shelter control
nes under the Wartime Prices
1 Trade f30ard. The Central
rtgage and Housing Corpor-

at once. At least 25,000 families are

either homeless, face eviction,

‘Quit

ation has just been set up to
take over administration of the
National Housing Act. In ad-
dition; the Department of
Health and Welfare is con-
cerned with housing research.

But there are no houses!

For some time a cabinet
committee has been in exist-
ence examining the whole
problem. Two other inter-de-
partmental committees have
also been in operation inquir-
ing into the housing situation.

It is obvious that this red
tape will have to be slashed.
Some overall authority has to
settle on a definite program of
building and see that supplies
of materials. and labor are or-
ganized. ;

What sort of apparatus
would be necessary to conduct
an immediate program of gov-
ernment - sponsored low-rental
housing ?

FIRst of all, the local job
—building a housing pro-
ject that may consist of either

a series of low-rent dwellings
or of blocks of flats—must be
entrusted to a municipal hous-
ing authority.

This must be a democratic
authority, representative of

See:

VETERANS
and LABOR

By Jack Henderson
Prov. Pres. Can. Legion

PAGE 2

or live in extremely harrowing condi-

Weston.
%

every group in the ¢ommunity,
not just of insurance execu-
tives or mortgage company
presidents. Moreover, it must
be given the legal power to
borrow money from the federal
or provincial government and
start building houses.

When the project is built the
local authority will decide who
is going to live there and how
much rent must be paid. The
rent will be low, within the
reach of the low-income group,
says $12 to $15 a month.

It will not be an economic
rent. The amount collected will
not be enough to pay off the
interest on the money borrowed
to build the project and cost
of repairs, depreciation, and
such. This difference will be
made up by an annual subsidy
from the Dominion treasury.

And that is the crux of the
whole question. If housing is
to be provided for the people
who need it most, then it will
have to be provided at a “loss,”

>talling;
Building’

tart

by E. D. Holloway

which will be met out of taxa-
tion on higher incomes.

Actually there will be no
“loss.” Decent accommodation
for Canadians means healthier
Canadians, lower costs for
health services, less juvenile
delinquency. It will be the best
investment Canadians have
ever made.

HE initiative for this pro-
gram has to come from the
federal government which has
the money and the emergency
powers enabling it to take
prompt action.

Once the decision to go ahead
is taken, once the federal gov-

- ernment announces its readiness

to take part in such a program
and the provincial government
gives municipalities the go-
ahead signal, the business of
building ean be done quckly.

But it could equally well take
years if blocking and delaying
tactics are employed by reac-

Just one emergency project for 2
have filed pleas for their occupation.

have attempted to rent these premises Iecated in a Toronto suburb,

tionary provincial govern-
ments which have the money
to go ahead on their own.
There is no reason, for example,
why Ontario should not have a
provincial housing scheme and
proceed with it.

If this procedure seems too
slow, then there is no reason
why the Dominion government
could not go head full steam
under its emergency powers.

A new .Crown Company—or
an expanded Wartime Housing
Limited—could start today on
large scale projects for veter-
ans. These could eventually be
turned over to the local hous-
ing authority to administer.
But in the meantime they
would serve as valuable de-
monstration projects, examples
of what is meant by low-cost
housing.

E program outlined here

is fairly simple. It involves
dealing with the municipalities
and it involves a subsidy in
bringing down rent. There is
nothing fancy or complicated
about its principles.

We all know the kind of ac-
tion that should be taken.
.We’ve known it for some time.
The Labor - Progressive Party
is voicing the demand of all
“Canadians when it says: “Quit
stalling! Start building!”

they will have to wait. “Sorry, there just aren’t any houses.”

00 veterans’ families, but 2,300 desperate other servicemen
Not a day goes by but dozens of veterans are informed that

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1948