THIS EPISODE: Community Land Trusts Gaining Ground
A good news story in recent years is the amount of progress Community Land Trusts (CLTs) have made in communities across the country.
New CLTs are being established, and existing ones are winning by-in from various levels of government, as well as buying up land to preserve as affordable housing in perpetuity, sheltering units from the runaway, unaffordable housing market.
Often, CLTs preserve often overlooked and stigmatized housing such as rooming houses and single room occupancy hotels.
Joshua Barndt is executive director of the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust (PNLT) in Toronto, one of the first CLTs to rekindle this model in Canada. First, the PNLT was able to acquire property for affordable housing, then the City of Toronto created the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program (MURA) to help create CLTs across Toronto. We asked Joshua what is needed to scale up, and out, and replicate for other communities:
We have a well-regarded, working program in Toronto, and the best ways for the province or the federal government to support it would be to provide funding to the City, so the City can expand and continue to implement the program… Since the City created the MURA program, other cities across Canada have begun to explore creating similar programs.
Norm Leech is the president of the Downtown Eastside Community Land Trust. They’re just begging their mission in Vancouver’s famously impoverished downtown. Norm tells us how this CLT uses a decolonized governance structure, co-led by Indigenous peoples, and with tenant-led programming:
If we look at the flaws of so-called ‘democratic systems,’ who actually ends up governing… it sure seems to be a pretty small interest group… our governance model was really more balanced. It was not overrepresented by that same small interest group… So we’re trying to consciously see if we can restore the position of authority and respect and power to grandmothers. Because, our communities, that was our greatest source of wisdom and care and compassion.
How can we help communities secure affordable housing for their neighbours?
Listen here for The Overhead:
