ARTICLE 25

 ARTICLE 25

ARTICLE 25

UNITED NATIONS — UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Article 25 recognizes the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, including housing.

Housing.

A human right.

And yet here we are in British Columbia in 2026, still talking about people who cannot afford a place to live.

Shane Pointe, Musqueam, Squamish Elder, was right.

No one will listen until you say: CLASS ACTION.

So let's get this party started.

Enough is enough.

Let's make everyone sit up and take notice.

We're not f*cking around anymore.

For more than 20 years, Canadians have heard promises about affordable housing.

We hear announcements.

We hear plans.

We hear targets.

We hear politicians tell us things are turning around.

But people are still sleeping outside.

People are couchsurfing.

People are filling shelters.

Single women are being turned away.

Seniors are struggling.

Young adults can't find somewhere they can afford.

Families are stretched to the breaking point.

And people like me — people who have been unhoused for years — are still trying to survive.

So perhaps it is time to stop asking governments nicely.

Perhaps it is time to ask the legal system some very serious questions.

Could people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in British Columbia have common legal issues that could support a class proceeding?

What government actions, policies or failures would need to be examined?

Who could represent the class?

What evidence would we need?

How many people have experienced the same barriers?

What would we actually be asking the court to do?

And could a case potentially involve more than one level of government?

These aren't questions I think one person can answer from a couch.

They need lawyers.

They need researchers.

They need advocates.

They need people who understand housing law, constitutional law, human rights and class proceedings.

Under B.C.'s current Class Proceedings Act, a proposed class proceeding has to meet specific certification requirements, including an identifiable class, common issues, a suitable representative plaintiff and a workable plan for advancing the case.

So let's find out.

Let's find the lawyers.

Let's find the organizations.

Let's find the people who have been documenting this crisis for years.

Let's bring the evidence together.

Not rumours.

Not political spin.

Evidence.

How many people are unhoused?

How many are living in shelters?

How many are couchsurfing?

How many are being turned away?

How many seniors cannot afford market rent?

How many people receive assistance that doesn't come close to covering actual rent?

How many people have been waiting years for stable housing?

And how much has this crisis cost people — financially, physically, emotionally and socially?

Then let's put those questions where they belong.

In front of people who can actually do something about them.

I don't know whether a class action is legally possible.

That's exactly why I want lawyers to look at it.

Maybe the answer is yes.

Maybe the answer is no.

Maybe there is another legal route that makes more sense.

But after decades of promises, I think we have earned the right to ask.

When does someone hold Canada accountable?

When does housing stop being a promise and start becoming something governments are actually held responsible for?

Article 25 has been sitting there for decades.

People have been waiting.

People are still waiting.

And winter is coming.

So...

Who wants to help get this started?

Who knows a lawyer?

Who knows a housing-rights organization?

Who has evidence?

Who has lived this?

Who has been told to wait?

Who has been told there is nothing available?

Who has been told their income is too low?

Who has been told they don't qualify?

Who has spent night after night wondering where they will sleep?

Maybe it is time we stopped treating all of these stories as isolated tragedies.

Maybe it is time to ask whether they form a much bigger legal question.

ARTICLE 25.

HOUSING.

HUMAN RIGHTS.

ACCOUNTABILITY.

Let's find out what the law can actually do.

And let's get started.