GuelphToday received the following Letter to the Editor from a concerned reader Jay Wilson about housing, mental health and environmental challenges in Guelph.
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I am skeptical. It seems to me we require radical changes in our economic system and a re-think about human values in order to provide housing for all. At present, housing appears to reflect selfishness.
So far, we have allowed the free market to supply housing. The free market, I remind us, gave us tobacco addiction. The free market also created the climate crisis. Why are we letting the free market determine shelter needs? Why is the word ‘free’ even associated with such blatant disregard for human survival?
I admit I have not kept a close eye on Guelph's planning. Who has time? I now see there are loads and loads of studies, but none of them suggest changing how we create equality: how we suddenly become really good at sharing and generosity. And none of the studies contain plans for altering our economic structure, which relies on the 'have and have-not' principle. I don’t think the word 'share' ever appears in these plans.
Some feel the drawbacks to growth are already outstripping the benefits. The streets are overcrowded, the healthcare system is strained, the natural environment is stressed, and humans are lashing out, reacting under feelings of fear and anxiety. Not only is Guelph beyond capacity, but the social systems that maintain cooperation are crumbling.
Perhaps it isn’t a question of how many, but a question of quality of life. One million compassionate, caring people are much different than one million angry, fearful souls. So Guelph’s housing and population discussions are actually about mental health. But mental health is a chicken-egg thing. Does a just society result in stable, well-adjusted people, or do stable, well-adjusted people create a just society? I can’t seem to find the answers to these questions in the planning documents, so I wonder just how can Guelph expect to get it right when it comes to accommodating the Places to Grow legislation and just how is a pro-development council going to solve our mental health crisis.
Jay Wilson
Guelph
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