Abandonment Issues Deputes at the Affordable Housing Ctte Meeting

Thanks to everyone who deputed on Monday, June 16th to the Affordable Housing Committee and spoke in favour of the Use It or Lose It bylaw. A request for a staff report on Use It or Lose It passed without controversy, so now the City will have to decide whether and how to implement our proposal. A staff report signals that the City is taking seriously the possibility of adopting the bylaw. City staff will now do their own research on the issue to confirm its viability in Toronto.

Councillor Vaughan has stood up for the importance of this project and will be able to help shepherd it through subsequent debates at the Affordable Housing Committee, and hopefully in Council if the bylaw makes it into Housing Opportunities Now - the affordable housing framework the City has been working on throughout the year - that will likely come to Council in the fall or early winter.

We will keep you posted.

ABANDONMENT ISSUES RELEASES 'USE IT OR LOSE IT' BYLAW

Abandonment Issues has been working hard over the past few months, conducting and compiling research on Toronto's unique abandonment issues. We are excited to release our policy brief outlining the city's need for the Use It or Lose It bylaw and issuing recommendations for how this bylaw would best be implemented.

Please follow the link to read a summary of our policy brief and recommendations:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/property/UseItorLoseItBylawBrief.pdf

Click here for the full report: http://individual.utoronto.ca/property/AI_report.pdf

Please support this campaign by attending an event launch for the bylaw that we are currently organizing for mid-May 2008. We need massive community support to show City Council that Toronto supports this initiative as a way to directly address the affordable housing crisis that has left thousands insecure and unsheltered. We will post details shortly on this event and hope to see you there.

We will also be posting more information on how you can let the City know that you support the Use It or Lose It bylaw.