So You Think You Can House? (en anglais)
September 19, 2011 (7:00 PM (CDT))
Winnipeg Free Press News Café, 237 McDermot Ave. (Exchange District)
Winnipeg, MB August 29, 2011 — The Right to Housing Coalition and Planners Network Manitoba (PNmb) want to make housing an issue in the provincial election and to that end will co-present an event, So You Think You Can House?, at 7:00pm on September 19th at the Winnipeg Free Press News Café, 237 McDermot Ave. in the Exchange District. The purpose of the event is to find out how the three political parties would address the affordable housing issues in Manitoba.
Supported by the over forty organizations who struggle with this housing shortage, So You Think You Can House? will hear candidates’ positions on housing before the upcoming provincial election.
The format for this event loosely follows the popular reality show, “So You Think You Can Dance?”, and will involve a moderator, Terry McLeod; “contestants” representing the three sitting political parties, Ron Schuler, PC; Paul Hesse, Liberal; Kerri Irvin-Ross, NDP; a panel of “judges” (policy experts); and the audience.
The moderator will set the stage for the contestants who will answer a number of questions. The panel makes comments and debates the responses. The audience will then vote on the contestants’ responses, which will reveal how the audience rates each party’s overall housing plan for Manitoba.
“Lack of affordable housing has long since reached a crisis point throughout Manitoba, affecting not only newcomers to urban centres and low income households but also the labour force needed to make Manitoba the best it can be.” says Clark Brownlee, Coordinator of the Right to Housing Coalition. “We want to know what policies and tools the political parties would use to address the housing shortage if they formed the government.”
“A public forum of this nature will hold our elected representatives and their respective parties accountable for their promises”, he adds.
Right to Housing is a Winnipeg-based coalition that brings together 46 organizations and over 150 individuals to address the chronic need for social and affordable housing. PNmb is the local chapter of Planners Network an international network of city planners concerned with social and environmental justice.
For more information please contact:
Clark Brownlee
Coordinator
Right to Housing Coalition
T: 204-488-1786
E: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)