Forum - "What if Housing were a Human Right?" by Dan Hanna Humanist Toronto

The Humanist Association of Toronto
http://www.humanisttoronto.ca/

Every Saturday we meet to discuss a topic decided upon the previous week. These are topics of humanist interest, from a humanist perspective.

What would it mean if we treated housing as a Human Right?
Currently, in Canada and many parts of the world, access to housing, including affordable housing, is a major challenge for people lacking significant disposable wealth. In addition to the “homeless people,” the lack of viable housing choices inflict various types of harm. Money spent on sub-standard, inadequate, and excessively priced housing has the effect of denying access to nutritious food, health care (access to doctors, dentists, and prescribed medicines) and education.
While access to safe affordable housing is generally accepted as a positive goal, to reach an adequate understanding of the meaning and consequences of treating “housing as a human right” there are numerous questions.
· What are the legal and moral (philosophical) arguments that support or oppose housing as a human right?
· How are “private property rights” affected by “human right to housing?”
· How would the “State” enforce “housing as a human right?
· How does the “State” restrict private property rights?
In researching this topic, I quickly realized that I had bitten off more than I could digest. On the internet, I read many sources of information about this topic. Here are five (5) sites for reference:

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations
2. The Right to Housing as a Human Right: The Right to Housing as a Human Right - LawNow Magazine
3. Forbes: [Changing The Housing Debate Part 1: Housing Is Not A Right (forbes.com)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2019/05/27/series-1/?sh=5cafd256754a)
4. Policy Options: [Canadians’ rights to property need additional protection (irpp.org)](https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/april-2022/private-property-rights-halifax-park/#:~:text=Property%20rights%20were%20recognized%20in,are%20currently%20not%20well%2Dprotected.)
5. United Nations: OHCHR | The human right to adequate housing
   I look forward to an interesting discussion.

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