Article content The Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH) held a rally Saturday while the snow fell and the temperature dropped, with a goal of spurring action to develop more social housing to help more than 4,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city. “We’re all dressed nice and warm, of course, but the people who we’re here for are not, and they don’t have the luxury of going home afterwards,” said ECOHH chairwoman Nadine Chalifoux at the beginning of the event. A crowd of more than 50 people were bundled up in tarps and blankets at the North Plaza of the Legislature Grounds — experiencing a just fraction of what thousands experiencing homelessness endure throughout the winter.
ECOHH’s rally was just one among 15 other cities across Canada to recognize of National Housing Day, aiming to raise awareness and to encourage action from municipal, provincial, and federal governments to invest in social housing for vulnerable Canadians. Attendees of the rally were given postcards addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created by Social Housing & Human Rights Canada , calling on the federal government to create a “minimum of 50,000 net new rent-geared-to-income social housing units each year for 10 years, starting now.” ECOHH’s rally comes on the heels of a deadly two-weeks for Edmonton which saw four people found dead in bus shelters across the city as the weather has gotten colder and the snow began to fall.
The four people were be.