Hopefully All My Friends Have Places to Stay

Luckily, a friend of mine in Saskatoon has graciously offered me a bedroom in her condo until the possession date for the house that we bought, so I'm set.

As for the rest of the people in my classes, I sure hope they've got something set up too.

The Star Phoenix reports today that:

Gov't response to housing crisis 'totally inadequate'
Affordable housing shortfall estimated at 3500 units in city
by: Darren Bernhardt (excerpts below, click the link for the full article):

"Minister (Kevin) Yates' announcement falls far short of an adequate response to what is now a housing crisis and, furthermore, it signals that the government doesn't seem to understand," said CHSA president Cheryl Loadman.

On Wednesday, Yates, the community resources minister, announced a series of changes to the social assistance allowance, transitional employment allowance, rental housing supplement and provincial training allowance in response to the financial pain caused by a booming real estate market.

There was nothing for low-income workers who don't quality for provincial assistance programs, other than the establishment of a help line for people struggling to find housing in their price range or facing evictions and large rent increases.

CURRENT HOUSING NEEDS IN SASKATOON:
- 9,000 families whose housing is unsuitable, inadequate and unaffordable
- 26,000 post-secondary students
- 18,000 people with special needs
- 6,600 new immigrants and 240 refugees
- fast-growing First Nation and Metis population
- 40 per cent of First Nation and Metis renters have core housing needs
Source: Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP)

Yikes, hey?