Late to the game, but scrolling through Reddit, this topic caught my attention. It seems there's a lot of negatively around this, and many misconceptions on this topic.
I have a good understanding of the plan and so I'd like to share my thoughts with you all. As a starting point, we have to realize that this is a SUPER complex and systematic wide issue, that has implications outside of just homelessness. Systems like immigration, health, justice, housing, education etc. are all factors that we have to consider. As they all relate and contribute to this ongoing issue.
First off, this $290M is if every single measure of the plan is implemented, which obviously, there are not enough resources to do so. If you actually read the context of that dollar figure, it's broken up further in the actual plan:
"Therefore, an addition $290 million from 2015 to 2018 is required. $154 million for programs and operations, and $124 million to build additional housing to meet the needs of 3,200 people experiencing chronic homelessness and 9,400 at risk households."
This includes the costs of trying to assist 9,400 people in Calgary who are at RISK of homelessness too. The plan is trying to be comprehensive and not only just being reactive to homelessness, but also preventative as well. We can't address homelessness if we don't stop it from it's source. Being low income, at risk individuals and families. One pay check away from being homeless. If we just wanted to house people who are homeless, that costs FAR less that $290.
Secondly, lots of people focus on this idea that we haven't solved the problem yet, and we never will. That is simply not true. The 10 year plan to end homelessness started back in 2008. Back then we had around 3500+ homeless individuals. Jump forward to today, and it looks like we've done nothing as we still have 3500+ homeless individuals. On the surface it looks like it's not getting better, but behind the numbers are that over 6000+ people have been housed since this plan started. If we had simply just left this alone in 2008, and there was NO plan, it is projected that we would have well over 9000 people homeless at this current time. If that were to happen, Calgary's downtown would look like Vancouver's west end. THAT IS NOT IDEAL.
Keep in mind that since 2008, we've had a couple economic downturns (people losing jobs, oil patch layoffs etc), constant influx of people migrating here to Calgary (Well over 200,000+ people since 2009), and the sharp jump in housing costs relative to inflation and income levels, Calgary has done an AMAZING job stemming the tide of homelessness. Calgary has the largest homeless population in Alberta, but Calgary also has housed the most people through this plan as well. If you see the examples of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, who have adopted similar plans to Calgary, they have virtually eliminated homelessness in those respective cities. Calgary is one of the leaders in Canada and all of North America with this plan.
Lastly, there's some people who propagate that we simply give every homeless person a home. Thats not how it works. Most people are assigned to a case worker who assesses and ensures that the person has positive outcomes and hopefully reintegrate these people back into society. It's not a "FREE" home. Lets remember, most of the people in this plan have severe mental health and addictions issues. These are people who would have traditionally been served by mental health institutions that were unfortunately all closed down by the Klein era cuts. These people will require supports for the foreseeable future, or maybe for their lifetime. You can't simply tell these people to "get a job", and "stop being lazy".
Fiscal Conservatives like TN and others think that this is a waste of money, but do not realize that plans like these SAVE money. A recent study done shows that homelessness costs Canada over $7billion dollars a year annually. Which includes costs like health care, jails, shelters, etc. And plans like Calgary's tend to SAVE costs overall because when people are housed and have a stable place to live, they stop committing crimes and getting sick trying to survive and instead work on improving themselves and outcomes. People who are housed have FAR lower interactions with Police, Ambulance, jail and emergency room interactions which are FAR costlier than just housing people. So really, it doesn't matter if you are more liberal leaning and like the idea that it's a human right to have a house, or if you're more conservative and want to save money, BOTH sides of the spectrum SHOULD support plans like this because it's WIN WIN.
Anyways, I hope my explanation helped some of you with an open mind. This isn't going to go away any time soon, but with a solid plan and roadmap like Calgary has done, solving homelessness IS possible.
See more about the plan here: http://www.ihearthomeyyc.com/