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Visit our new website dedicated to all things about the upcoming Review Panel by visiting: GenderHousingJustice.ca!
Background:
National Housing Council announces new Review Panel on women & gender-diverse homelessness
The National Indigenous Women’s Housing Network and the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network welcome the exciting news that the National Housing Council released a notice of intent on September 4, 2024 establishing its new review panel.
The Panel on the Failure to Prevent and Eliminate Homelessness amongst Women and Gender-Diverse People has three appointed members who will lead the review:
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Sylvia Maracle (Skonaganleh:ra) is a 2Spirited Mohawk, Wolf Clan member from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territories. Sylvia has worked with Indigenous Friendship Centres since 1975. She has been the Executive Director of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres for 41 years. She will be Chair of the panel.
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Pamela Glode Desrochers has worked with the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre for over 28 years and has been Executive Director for over 12 years.
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Marie Pascaline Menono is a social worker specializing in intersectional Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and human rights. She is a feminist activist who advocates for women’s rights and promotes the right to housing for all.
The WNHHN and NIWHN applaud the diverse expertise panelists bring to this critical human rights issue and are looking forward to working alongside and under the guidance of the three Review Panel members to collect evidence and testimony on this critical human rights issue.
The review panel will include written and oral hearings to hear directly from the public, particularly members of communities that are affected by the issue and groups that have expertise in human rights and housing. Grounded in a human rights-based approach, hearings are intended to create space for the public to share their experience of the systemic issue with the review panel and how it affects them, including its impact on their dignity and well-being, and the right to adequate housing. Based on the evidence presented during the hearings, the review panel will prepare a report to the Minister responsible for the NHS Act (Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities) with their opinion on the issue and recommendations to take measures to address the issue and advance the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing in Canada, as recognized under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
To allow the public to participate in this process, more information on the written and oral hearings will be published on the National Housing Council website.
Stay tuned for updates from the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network and National Indigenous Women’s Housing Network!
How did we get here?
On June 14, 2022, the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network (WNHHN) and the National Indigenous Women’s Housing Network (NIWHN) submitted two Human Rights Claimsto the Federal Housing Advocate. The claims spotlight violations of the right to housing experienced by marginalized women and gender-diverse people across the country, calling for immediate action.
On March 7, 2024, the Council passed a motion to proceed with the review panel as requested by the Federal Housing Advocate, pursuant to Section 16.1 of the NHS Act. Members of the review panel were appointed by the Council based on their experience, knowledge, and interest related to the issue, pursuant to Section 16.2 (2) of the NHS Act.
On June 14, 2022, the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network (WNHHN) and the National Indigenous Feminist Housing Working Group submitted two Human Rights Claims to the Federal Housing Advocate.
We came together to utilize the new procedures under the National Housing Strategy Act to claim our right to housing and our right to substantive equality. Our Claims spotlight violations of the right to housing experienced by marginalized women and gender-diverse people across the country, calling for immediate action. We are here to claim a better future for ourselves, our children, our communities, and the planet. We will no longer accept the unacceptable.
We call on the Government of Canada to fully realize our human right to housing and be held accountable for the human rights violations being perpetrated against us.
The Crisis Ends with Us: Request for a Review into the Systemic Denial of the Equal Right to Housing of Women and Gender-Diverse People in Canada
The Government of Canada’s failure to adequately address housing need and homelessness has manufactured a national human rights crisis for marginalized women and gender-diverse people. It has trapped us in situations of abuse and exploitation, separated us from our children, deepened our poverty, dislocated us from our lands and traditions, and eroded our dignity and self-determination. In some cases it has cost us our lives.
Canadian housing policy continues to prioritize profit over our right to a dignified life, to security, and to substantive equality. We disproportionately bear the consequences of the financialization of housing, but those of us who suffer most are rarely at decision-making tables or understood as rights-holders. Every day we watch the existing affordable housing stock dwindle at a rapidly escalating pace, driven by forces we cannot control, and decision-makers who do not hear our voices.
We see no future for ourselves in the current housing regime.
This Human Rights Claim, developed by the WNHHN Human Rights Task Force, articulates three key violations of the right to housing experienced by marginalized women and gender-diverse people across Canada:
- Violation 1: Failure to provide adequate, accessible, and affordable housing
- Violation 2: Failure to prevent and eliminate homelessness amongst women and gender-diverse people
- Violation 3: Failure to regulate the financialization of housing in alignment with the right to housing
Homeless on Homelands: Upholding Housing as a Human Right for Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, and Gender-diverse People
In the context of inherent Indigenous rights, the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) emerges as a critical instrument that can be utilized to challenge colonial policies and mechanisms that attempt to displace Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people from “their proper power and place.”
This Human Rights Claim, developed by the National Indigenous Feminist Housing Working Group, articulates four key violations of our inherent rights that must be reviewed by the Federal Housing Advocate:
- Violation 1: Lack of Action on the Calls to Justice from the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report and Calls to Action from the Truth Reconciliation Commission Report
- Violation 2: Failure to Provide Safe, Adequate and Culturally-Appropriate Housing, on Our Own Terms
- Violation 3: Interjurisdictional Neglect, Multiple Systems Failure, and Institutional Betrayal
- Violation 4: Security of Tenure under NHS and Secure Indigenous Land Tenure
How can I get involved?
In the coming months, the WNHHN and NIHN will be organizing across the country to support evidence-gathering from people with lived/living experience homelessness and their allies to participate in this exciting human rights process. Here’s how to get involved:
- Watch our Informational Webinar to learn about the human rights process and how to get involved
- Invite us to attend a meeting with your group, organization, or agency! We can provide an overview of the process and how you or your group can get involved. Contact us at .
- Join our mailing list and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date!
Webinar: Even the Beaver Has a Home
On October 6th 2023, the Secure Indigenous Land Tenure Association invited the National Indigenous Housing Network to host an info session on “Even the Beaver has a Home…” a series of engagements that will bring Indigenous women, Two-Spirit & gender-diverse people together to engage in the upcoming review panel on the government’s failure to prevent homelessness for women and gender-diverse people.
Watch to learn more about this exciting opportunity for Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse peoples to come together and claim their right to housing!
Infographics: The Right to Housing for Women and Gender-Diverse People
Looking for a quick overview? Check out the infographics below! These resources are based on a lecture that we gave at Wilfrid Laurier University discussing the Right to Housing for women & gender-diverse people, as well as the significance of our claims.
