By Judi McLeod
Monday, January 15, 2007
Move over single Moms, the US war resisters are coming!
In issuing an emergency housing appeal for housing for American soldiers who want to flee to Canada rather than serve in Iraq, The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) seems to be putting American war resisters ahead of the working poor.
TDRC politics is taking precedence at a time when affordable housing is difficult to find for single people raising families.
The TDRC battle cry went up when the news first broke that President George W. Bush would be announcing an increased deployment of 20,000 troops to Iraq.
According to TDRC officials, "There has been a huge response within the U.S. military" and their telephone lines have been "inundated" with calls for help.
"The War Resisters Support Campaign has been inundated with requests from soldiers who are considering coming to Canada," states a TDRC media communiqu.
"This is an urgent appeal for housing spots for the new arrivals. If you have a room where you can house a resister for a few days, a few weeks or longer, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH US. We are in especially great need of longer term housing (1-2 months).
"Welcoming a war resister here with the offer of temporary housing is a concrete way to put an end to war in Iraq. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated!"
During the duration of the Iraq war on terror, Canada has been a harbour for conscientious objectors from the United States.
The U.S. draft ended in 1973 and troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan serve in an all-volunteer army.
Of course there are those who would argue that the job of soldiering is voluntary in much the same way as any paid job is voluntary. In their way of thinking, soldiers are not forced to do the job; they are paid to do it.
In the same communiqu that the TDRC is asking for housing for U.S. war resisters, is an article noting that housing continues to move out of reach for minimum wage workers.
"Minimum housing wage measures the level of hourly wages that a person or household must earn to afford an average rent unit without paying more than the norm of 30% of before tax income for housing.
"Rising rent levels in all 28 Canadian Census Metropolitan areas have resulted in an increase in the minimum housing wage required in all of these cities.
"Single parent families with one wage earner face the greatest challenge. In Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto a single parent must find a job paying almost three times the minimum wage in order to cover the rent for an average two-bedroom or three-bedroom apartment."
"Paying the rent or feeding the children is a real life choice that all too many parents have to make," says Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) President Karen Charlton.
Toronto remains the most expensive city, but compared to 2005, Calgary and Edmonton are catching up, due to the greatest increase in rent levels since 2005.
Panhandlers are on the increase in Mayor David Miller's Toronto. Many of them are homeless.
Meanwhile, not all members of TDRC's constituency are happy with the organization's latest emergency housing appeal.
"It's Homes for War Resisters--Screw the Poor," is how one local wag sees it.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement