Housing Not War rally
Rally for Housing Not War!

Thursday, February 7, 12:00pm to 2:00pm
King and Bay streets, at the Toronto office of Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

Show the government and downtown Toronto that we demand Housing NOT war!
Shift funding from record-high military spending to peace – an extra 1% for housing!

The Federal government is choosing to fight a counter-insurgency war in Afghanistan, spending $100 million per month to fight a war a large majority of people in Canada don't want. This is the Afghan War's 7th year. At home, a decade after "Canada's ten largest cities declared homelessness a national disaster", the government continues to ignore the solution: a national housing program. We are the only industrialized country without one. The government continues to ignore the 1% solution: an extra 1% of the budget for social housing (doubling funding to $4B). 300 000 people experiencing homelessness every year doesn't seem to mean much to them. Neglected, the disaster has only worsened with more suffering and deaths.

Over the same decade, military spending has increased 69% to $18.2B or 8.5% of the budget. In constant dollars, it the highest since WWII. The government cannot justify wasting billions on war while neglecting the housing crisis.

Public pressure wins relief for people made homeless by government policies. Public pressure kept us out of the Iraq War. Since we launched just over 2 months ago, over 125 organizations and thousands of individuals have joined together to demand Housing Not War. We have to build more pressure.

For more information, please contact Housing Not War:
Web: http://www.housingnotwar.ca
E-mail: housingnotwar[at]gmail.com
Tel: 416-599-8372