RNAO has been particularly active in recent months addressing structural inequities that led to vulnerable populations suffering the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. RNAO is adding its voice to a campaign launched in June supported by hundreds of progressive organizations in Canada calling for a just and sustainable recovery from COVID-19.

In a 27 August letter to the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and federal party leaders, RNAO calls for action to address some of the profound inequities laid bare by COVID-19, which has exposed our collective failure to build a country that provides health, safety and security for all.

Today I am appreciative to Tim Richter, President & CEO, Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, for engaging us all in what promises to be a very effective campaign to end homelessness, once and for all. Tim’s message is so simple and so powerful: Yes, we want to go back to normal, but not a normal where more than a quarter of a million Canadians are homeless. Not a normal where we look the other way as vulnerable people suffer injustice and discrimination. Not a normal where so many people do not have shelter and basic needs.