Hansen: Conservatives' “ghettos” and “real jobs” comments offensive and out-of-touch

Halifax - Suzy Hansen, NDP Housing spokesperson and MLA for Halifax Needham, made the following statement in response to Housing Minister John Lohr referring to low-income neighbourhoods as “ghettos” during yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference:

“Yesterday, when speaking to journalists, Minister of Housing John Lohr justified his government calling $1700/month apartments affordable and referred to lower-income communities as ‘ghettos’.

First the Premier said people working for less than $15 an hour don’t have ‘real jobs,’ now his housing minister says people who pay less than $1700 a month in rent live in ghettos. This government is so out of touch with people's real lives.

My community is caring, loving and we look out for one another; we are not a ghetto. The Minister’s language is deeply offensive and hurtful to people who live in communities like mine from one end of the province to the other.

I want an apology to all the people and communities he insulted. But more important than words is action. $1700 a month is not affordable. We need truly affordable housing for everyone, and that is what the Minister needs to focus on. Too many people are struggling to afford a place to live, or to save to buy a home. We need action.”

For housing costs to be affordable they should be no more than 30 per cent of a person’s income. Someone making $15 an hour would need to pay less than $800 a month in rent to meet that standard.

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