Thursday’s Speech from the Throne included a critical commitment on veteran homelessness. The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness is eager to get to work with the government, veteran partners and communities to make the end of veteran homelessness a reality.
On Thursday afternoon Governor General Julie Payette delivered the Speech from the Throne to open the 43rd Parliament. The speech included a federal government promise to build on its previous investments to support Canada’s veterans.
“In the last mandate, the Government invested more than $10 billion to deliver better outcomes for Canada’s veterans,” Payette said. “And in this new Parliament, the Government will build on that work by improving mental health care supports and helping ensure that every homeless veteran has a place to call home.”
“The government made an important and groundbreaking commitment to homeless veterans in the Speech from the Throne,” says Tim Richter, CAEH President & CEO, who was in attendance in Ottawa. “Veteran homelessness in Canada is readily and rapidly solvable. I look forward to working with the government to get some quick and decisive action to end veteran homelessness.
“Organizations like VETS Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion and others have been responding to the crisis of veteran’s homelessness for a decade and have paved the way for rapid success. We look forward to learning from, connecting and working with them to eliminate veteran homelessness as quickly as possible.”
Last June, on the eve of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness along with VETS Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion and Old Brewery Mission joined forces to support Motion M-225 in the House of Commons, which was put forward by MP Neil Ellis and supported by Conservative MP Karen Vecchio and NDP MP Sheri Benson. The motion called on the federal government to set the goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2025 and received unanimous support in the House of Commons.
Recently, we announced eight Built for Zero Canada communities who are committing to end veteran homelessness by March 2022. Funded by Veterans Affairs Canada’s Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund, Built for Zero Canada (BFZ-C) will begin work this January with Chatham-Kent, Fort McMurray, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Moncton, Peel Region, and St. John’s to achieve functional zero veteran homelessness by March 2022.
New Webinars on December 12 – Register now!
Check out these two upcoming webinars from the National Alliance to End Rural and Remote Homelessness and CAEH Training & Technical Assistance that are happening on December 12. Learn more about ending homelessness from the experts.
The National Alliance to End Rural and Remote Homelessness: REGISTER
Period Prevalence Count with Dr. Carol Kauppi – December 12 at 11 am EST
Dr. Carol Kauppi will be discussing her findings on the Period Prevalence Count.
CAEH Training & Technical Assistance: REGISTER
BNL/CA CoP – Assertive Engagement In Your CA System: Having the hard conversations – December 12 at 1 pm EST
All Coordinated Access systems have participants that refuse or even avoid opportunities for change or offers of housing and support. Wally Czech, TTA director, will provide a short presentation highlighting the importance of relentless engagement and giving these people ongoing opportunities to shift their thinking and the tools and skills that are most useful and effective in making that possible. Then Wally will engage listeners in a discussion and Q&A period where people can learn from each other.