Dear Diane,
On Friday, one of the world’s most anticipated sporting events began – the FIFA World Cup 2010. I don’t know what it’s like where you are, Diane, but in Vancouver it’s hard to go anywhere these days without encountering some of the hype and furor attached to these games. Events like these are great for encouraging solidarity amongst fans and the amount of passion fans have for their teams/countries is incredible.
But since the problem of homelessness in Canada is always on my mind (as I’m sure it is on yours also), my excitement for the World Cup has been clouded by the realization that we could just as easily redirect some of our energies towards social interest endeavours as well. Imagine if all the people waking up tirelessly at 6 a.m. to catch their favourite team on TV were also waking up at 6 a.m. to rally for safer living conditions in Canada. Or, instead of spending hundreds of dollars on World Cup-related paraphernalia, some of that money went towards implementing a national housing strategy.
Homelessness is still a huge problem for Canadians, Diane. We are the only G8 country without a national housing strategy. By supporting Bill C-304 and working towards ending homelessness in Canada, you will be helping instil some much-needed national pride into our country! We may not have sent a soccer team to the World Cup, but there is still time to send a strong message to the rest of the world that our country does nonetheless support our citizens.
Alison Leong and the Homelessness is Over! campaign
Here are some of the messages we shared with Diane today:
“A nation’s greatness is measured by house it treats its weakest members” – Ghandi. AMEN!
This is a national tragedy and a national shame – no longer can we be proud to be Canadian.
… It is shameful for Canada as a country to be NOT providing access to housing, and thus creating the homeless problem.
