
‘Nomadland': Without real housing action, Canada risks a future where kids grow up in campgrounds
Privacy was a luxury this girl didn't have. Home, for the time being anyhow, was this well-tended private campground in Washington state. She and her mom were living in an RV that their vehicle was not equipped to tow. I won't name the campground: it was run by lovely people who may be ignoring state rules that limit camping in RVs to 180-day stays in most counties. I would not want to cause trouble for any of the people who, judging by permanent flower planters, elaborate outdoor kitchen structures and even some permanent flag poles, I saw during a trip through the Pacific Northwest last week, appear to be living year-round in campgrounds.
In case you wondered, I agonized about whether to attend a family event in a country now so hostile to my own. In the end, the family won out and we drove, camping and hiking in the California redwoods along the way.
Like Fern, the heroine played by Frances McDormand in the film Nomadland, some of the folks we saw living in campgrounds were on the knife's edge of homelessness, their RVs covered in tarps to keep leaks at bay, their aging vehicles dented and rusting. As the number of unhoused people in the big cities of Washington, Oregon and California continue to grow, affordable housing shortages have similarly worsened in the region's less populous counties.
The US, which still ranks among the world's top-10 wealthiest countries, has so far failed the almost 800,000 people who in January of 2024 had no permanent housing. Canada faces similar challenges, albeit on a smaller scale. It's hard to know exactly how many unhoused people there are here — the latest Statistics Canada report is stale. A point-in-time count found that between 2020 and 2022, 40,713 people were living in shelters, sleeping rough (including in encampments) and in transitional housing. The true numbers are likely far higher.
A succession of federal governments have done precious little to solve this problem since the 1990s when the Brian Mulroney Conservative government, and then the Liberals under Jean Chretien, wound down construction of social housing.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reversed that trend with a goal to reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent and rebooted social housing programs that had fallen by the wayside. But the rollout was slow and the amounts invested couldn't keep pace with the rising numbers. Since 2018, street homelessness has increased by 20 per cent, according to a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Building social housing is hideously expensive and the Liberals' pace of federal investment on homelessness programs under Trudeau from 2018 to 2028 was set to average $561 million per year. Meeting Trudeau's 50 per cent target would require an astonishing $3.5 billion per year more, given current program designs, the PBO report found.
Canada's unhoused population grew by 20 per cent under the last Liberal government. PM Mark Carney seems ready to spend some serious money to help. Let's hold him to his promises. @adriennetanner.bsky.social writes for @nationalobserver.com
Now, thankfully, with Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canadians have a leader who seems to understand the magnitude of Canada's affordable housing woes and says he's prepared to allocate real money to build more. Carney has promised to double the number of homes built annually in Canada to 500,000. Affordable housing needs will be handled by a new organization called Build Canada Homes (BCH), tasked with overseeing affordable housing construction across the country.
Carney has promised it will be richly funded; grants totalling $6 billion will be awarded to build "deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, Indigenous housing and shelters."
"We will immediately develop homelessness reduction targets with every province and territory to inform housing-first investments, improve access to treatment and end encampments community by community," the Carney campaign said in a statement.
That's an admirable goal and stands in stark contrast to the views of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who routinely demonizes people who have nowhere to live. His punitive solution to homelessness was to give police greater powers to dismantle tent encampments, arrest unhoused people who erect them, and steer drug users to treatment programs.
He claimed to have a 'housing first' solution to solving homelessness, but did not actually commit to building any social housing. You can see how well that's working in the US where tent cities proliferate in big cities and campgrounds have become home to those marginally better off.
Lest we get ahead of ourselves, Carney is not the first politician to promise to end street homelessness. Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, now a newly elected Liberal MP, made the same pledge and was roasted for failing when the numbers of homeless people climbed under his watch. But it's far better to set lofty goals and risk failure than not to try at all. If Carney invests the kind of money he talked about during his campaign, he can make a difference.
Without serious investment, our tent cities will continue to grow, and we'll soon have families living in campgrounds like the girl in the pajamas or the mom with her preteen boy who cringed when I met him in the women's washroom the following day. 'He's embarrassed because I make him come in here with me,' she said. 'But I can't let him go to the men's alone. Too dangerous.'

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Winnipeg Free Press
12-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Congregation Shaarey Zedek welcomes new senior rabbi
After decades of living and working in the U.S., Israel, Japan and Europe, Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose has come back home. Rose, who was raised in Winnipeg's North End, took up his new responsibilities as senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on July 1. 'Winnipeg's a wonderful place to grow up,' said Rose, who was born in the U.S. in 1966 and moved to the city in 1967 from New York with his parents, Rabbi Neal Rose and his wife, Carol, so his father could take a position in Judaic Studies and religion at the University of Manitoba. Supplied Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose and Paulie Zimnavoda Rose Rose, 59, has fond memories of family life on Matheson Avenue with his four siblings — a sister and three brothers, including Rabbi Kliel Rose of Winnipeg's Congregation Etz Chayim. This included his time studying at the former Talmud Torah Hebrew school at the intersection of Charles Street and Flora Avenue. He graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1984 and then headed to California to study at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He was ordained by the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and went on to serve in various roles before becoming senior rabbi for 18 years at Congregation B'nai Amoona in St. Louis. In 2023, he left there to become president and CEO of the Mandel Jewish Community Centre in Cleveland, Ohio — a place much like Winnipeg's Asper Jewish Community Campus, although much bigger to serve the large Jewish community of 85,000 in that city. Rose, who has four children with his wife, Paulie Zimnavoda Rose, enjoyed his time at the centre. But he found his heart was really in congregational life and leadership. 'I wanted to go back to teaching in a synagogue,' he said. 'I realized I was more of a pastor, teacher and preacher, not an administrator. I missed those things.' For Rose, serving at a synagogue means an opportunity to pass on the tenets of Judaism to members of Shaarey Zedek. 'Judaism is a 4,000-year-old tradition that still has something to say to the world today,' he said, noting he wants to help the synagogue continue to be a place 'where people can come to learn and develop deep roots in Judaism and in the Jewish community.' In particular, Rose wants to help people see that Judaism 'is about more than laws, it is about love of self, love of others, of the community, of the world … it's about wanting to live into the image of the divine.' 'I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God, to see Judaism as a tradition that has something to say about how to live with a partner, with children, with parents, neighbours, others and the world.' Rose's own approach to Judaism grows out of the Conservative tradition to which he and Shaarey Zedek belong — an approach that seeks to conserve and honour traditional Jewish practices and beliefs while incorporating modern perspectives to the scriptures. 'We have respect for tradition but we are open to innovation,' said Rose, noting that Conservative Judaism is a middle way between the Orthodox tradition — which emphasizes stricter adherence to Jewish law and traditional practices — and the Reform tradition, which seeks to more actively adapt Judaism to modern life. This means 'not losing the past for the sake of the future, but also not losing the future for the sake of the past,' Rose said, adding that 'some beliefs in the past worked well in the past, but they may not work so well now.' One example of this is that Rose, like Shaarey Zedek, is welcoming and affirming of LGBTTQ+ people. 'We want to be present and welcoming of all,' he said. Rose also wants to be engaged in interfaith work in the city. 'I look forward to working together with other faith leaders,' he said, adding 'I want to have deep roots in my community and also learn from other communities. There is beauty in all traditions that should be shared.' This will include looking for things different faith traditions hold in common so they can 'work together for the good of the whole community,' he said, adding he also wants to build trust between the groups 'so we can have difficult conversations and still have respect and love for each other.' Such conversations are important at a time of growing polarization and division, along with rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, he said. Supplied After spending most of his career in the U.S., Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose returned to the town where he was raised to become senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. 'We need religious leaders to step forward boldly, to set an example,' he said, adding he thinks this will be easier in Winnipeg than other places since 'we can draw on reservoirs of trust built up over the years.' He credits his parents for his broad interfaith outlook. 'They taught us the importance of serving not just the Jewish community, but the whole community,' said, adding they took the family to visit churches, mosques and sweat lodges. 'I learned about the world in my parent's home,' he said. 'They exposed us to other religions and traditions.' Rose also credits his parents for passing on a love for Judaism — so much so that all four sons became rabbis. 'It was a clean sweep,' said Rose, adding that his sister married a rabbi. And yet, his parents never pushed their sons to serve in that way. 'They just lived as their authentic selves, not just through words but by living out their faith,' he said. For Kliel, having his older brother in Winnipeg is exciting and a blessing. 'It's been over 30 years since I lived in the same place with a sibling,' he said. 'It will be great for my children to have their uncle and aunt here.' His brother's coming to Winnipeg will 'be great for Shaarey Zedek and also for the whole Jewish community,' he said. 'They found a great rabbi to lead them.' Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. In an e-mail to the congregation announcing Rose's appointment, congregation president Fanny Levy said Rose was a leader who 'embodies the values, vision and spirit that reflect the heart of our community.' Along with that, Rose's 'commitment to Jewish learning' deeply resonates with the congregation and his approach and values 'align most closely with the direction we aspire to take as a community.' Levy went on to praise Rose's 'deep respect for tradition, paired with a creative approach to leadership that encourages innovation and inclusivity.' Of Rose, Rena Secter Elbaze, the congregation's executive director, said that he is 'very personable, super charismatic, all about teaching,' someone who can 'lead us into the future. We are so fortunate to have him.' faith@ The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER John LonghurstFaith reporter John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Toronto Sun
09-07-2025
- Toronto Sun
Lorne Gunter: 'Half history is wrong': Park Canada plaques deemed problematic
Most Canadians wouldn't support American historic sites that used the world 'Negro,' or worse. A symbolic place on the Canadian landscape, and in the Canadian imagination, Craigellachie, British Columbia, is where on Nov. 7, 1885, the Last Spike was driven in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada. Photo by Lane MacIntosh / supplied Since 2019, at the height of the Trudeau government's woke, virtue-signalling remake of Canadian history, it has been official federal policy to portray our national history through the lenses of 'colonialism, patriarchy and racism,' especially at Parks Canada sites. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account This week, the online news site, Blacklock's Reporter, exposed two examples of such revisionism. And the surprise is, Parks Canada is likely the good guys in one example. In the six years since the Trudeau cabinet gave federal curators, archivists and historians the task of 'correcting' Canadian history, Parks Canada committees and employees have examined nearly 2,200 commemorative plaques and displays across the country. Almost one-third have been deemed problematic. Two hundred have been declared out-and-out offensive and in need of immediate replacement or removal. The biggest reason a display or inscription is red-flagged is 'ignoring Indigenous contributions or using antiquated language, such as 'Indian' or 'Eskimo.'' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That seems fair enough. Most Canadians wouldn't support American historic sites that used the world 'Negro,' or worse. If 'Indigenous,' 'First Nation' or 'Inuit' are now considered more correct, old plaques should be changed to incorporate newer language. Just be warned, the art of labelling is a moving target. Get ready every few decades to incorporate what are the acceptable words or names at the time. The examples uncovered by Blacklock's are telling. The one in which the Historic Sites and Monuments Board gets it wrong has to do with the Northwest Mounted Police. Instead of being the heroes of Canada's westward expansion, they are now to be portrayed in government documents and museums as paramilitary colonialists insensitive to Indigenous cultures. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Really!? Would the federal government rather Canada suffered the American Indian Wars in which European settlement was achieved with the brutal suppression of Indigenous peoples? Because that is what the NWMP prevented. The original Mounties were formed in 1873 to prevent American annexation of the Prairie West, to control settler violence against First Nations (and vice versa) and to end the devastating impact the American whiskey trade was having on the Indigenous peoples of the Prairies. It's a testament to the even-handedness of the NWMP that, after the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana in 1876, the Sioux under Sitting Bull sought (and received) the protection of the Mounties for nearly four years until our federal government pressured them to return to the U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Did the NWMP enforce discriminatory and oppressive laws before their disbandment in 1920. Undoubtedly. But wiping out historical recognition because it is one-sided does not correct the facts, it merely replaces them with another equally one-sided version. Parks Canada's new version of the NWMP is as incorrect — or more so — than the old version that ignores First Nations. Parks Canada's new boss, Liberal Steven Guilbeault, seems as determined to use cultural extremism to do for Canada's history what he did for our economy through environmental extremism. Another historical 'correction' being proposed by Parks Canada seems more reasonable, but is still being resisted by lobby groups and activists. At the site of the 'last spike' on the Canadian Pacific Railway, driven in 1885 between Revelstoke and Sicamous, B.C., the federal historic committee wants to add to the plaque commemorating the engineering achievement that united the country this wording: 'Many workers died building the line including Chinese labourers who played a major role in the construction of the line…' That should be acceptable; it's true. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But activists have threatened to protest any revision at the site that does not highlight 'systemic' discrimination against non-Whites. Using the Trudeau government's 2019 policy as a guideline, federal archivists have removed or altered 7,000 pages from government websites, many having to do with historic figures, such as Sir. John A. Macdonald whose views now are deemed politically incorrect. But half-history is wrong, even if it is meant to correct the faults of past historical telling. lgunter@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun Toronto & GTA Olympics Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Basketball


Calgary Herald
02-07-2025
- Calgary Herald
Meet the military trailblazer who's gunning for Pierre Poilievre in rural Alberta byelection
Bonnie Critchley. OTTAWA — Bonnie Critchley is used to breaking the mould. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors A trailblazer in uniform, Critchley was just 17 years old when she became the second woman ever to serve as an armoured crewman in her unit. She and reservist dad Steve later made history as the first father–daughter gunnery crew in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. She's now looking to take out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in one of the safest Conservative ridings in Canada, running as an independent in the upcoming Battle River—Crowfoot byelection. Critchley, who's been traversing the rural Alberta riding for about a month, says she sees a path to an upset victory over Poilievre. Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again 'Honestly, a good result for us would be a win,' Critchley told the National Post on Wednesday. She said that Poilievre is starting off on the wrong foot after yanking popular incumbent MP Damien Kurek out of the seat and creating a hefty byelection bill for taxpayers. 'I've been talking to a lot of 'small-c' conservatives around here who aren't thrilled that the 'big-C' Conservatives are spending an extra two million dollars on a mulligan for a guy who failed in his duty to his constituents and was fired,' said Critchley. Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area riding to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy by a five-point margin in April's federal election, after holding the seat for two decades. Critchley also says that the Calgary-born Poilievre has put off residents by donning western-style cowboy attire in his visits to the riding. 'Whether it's the backwards cowboy hat at the Wainwright Stampede or sitting in a truck in Drumheller, it just isn't landing,' said Critchley. A 22-year army reservist who later rode her bike across Europe to raise money for veterans and first responders, Critchley has a CV that would be attractive to any major political party. She says she's running an an independent because she's grown disillusioned with partisan politics. 'One of the things that I think we're having issues with is team politics. It's my team versus your team, and it doesn't matter what my team does or says, my team is better than your team,' said Critchley. She added that she's finds it especially concerning when party politics prevents constituents from being properly represented, pointing to the Poilivre-Kurek switcheroo as a prime example of this problem.