What do these three places all have in common?
Housing issues.
If these places were to be placed on a continuum Attawapiskat would be at one end, London at the other and Munsee-Delaware Nation somewhere in the middle.
Attawapiskat, which I wrote about in a post over a YEAR AGO, is still facing the same issues they were a year ago. The difference? The media. Everyone wants to help which is good. However, what about Munsee-Delaware… what about them?
Munsee-Delaware is just west of London ON. They are facing a housing crisis too. LFpress wrote an article on this community’s issue on the same day another article discussed that London ON City Council would move “$1 million from London’s affordable-housing reserve to hold the line on taxes won’t cause problems for most Londoners.”
London ON is surrounded by many First Nations.
To view map, click HERE.
London ON actually reported the highest First Nations population numbers in the 2006 census.
In 2006, the total Aboriginal population was 3.8%. In Ontario, the total Aboriginal population was 2.0%. The total Aboriginal population in 2006 made up 1.4% of the city’s total population. From 2001, the Aboriginal population grew by 10% (the First Nations population grew by 4% and the Metis grew by 38%).
The Aboriginal population is young.The median age of Aboriginal population in London was 26.6 years, while non-Aboriginal population median age was 38.6 years for 2006. Nearly half of the Aboriginal people were under age 25 (48%), while only 32% of the non-Aboriginal population were under the age of 25. The Aboriginal population over the age of 65 was 3% of the total city’s population; meanwhile, the non-Aboriginal population over the age of 65 was 13%. Nearly 3/10 Aboriginal people in London were under the age of 15, compared to 18% of their non-Aboriginal counterparts.
The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people was 8.5% compared to 4.5% for the non-Aboriginal population. The occupied mostly sales and service jobs (jobs considered less stable and having less benefits). The unemployment rate was even higher for Aboriginals aged between 15-24 years. That rate was 19.8% for First Nations youth aged 15 to 24, 22.7% for Métis youth, and 13.5% for non-Aboriginal youth.
Aboriginal children under the age of 14 were most likely to be living with a lone parent.That means only one income coming in. Aboriginal children were more likely to live with a lone mother (43% vs 16%), a lone father (6% vs 3%), a grandparent (with no parent present) (1.4% vs 0.3%) or with another relative (1.4% vs 0.5%).
The Aboriginal population were less likely to be employed full-time with only 33% of the population employed full-time. While 40% of the non-Aboriginal population were employed full-time.
The houses that Aboriginal people lived in, 1/8 of the homes needed major repairs and 1/3 were living below the LICO line.
These rates are for the CMA for London ON.
Check out the full map, HERE.
No doubt that there is a housing issue in London ON alright. There is also a housing issue just west of London ON and a housing issue north of London ON.
kwetoday 