Excluded, but not Silenced

Moira Peters — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 03:43:32 +0000

Indigenous Peoples at COP16

CANCUN, MEXICO—Led by members of international farmers movement La Via Campesina and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, thousands marched through the searing heat in Cancun, Mexico, in December 2010, to demand real climate solutions. Their message was loud and clear: the communities on the front-lines of the problem—those who face the daily impacts of the climate crisis—are also on the front-lines of the solutions.

"Current models of consumption, production and trade have caused massive environmental destruction," according to a statement by La Via Campesina. "Indigenous peoples and peasant farmers, men and women, are the main victims. [We] need a change in economic and development paradigms. Human beings do not own nature, but rather form part of all that lives."

Images and text by Allan Lissner, an independent photojournalist based in Toronto.

Cop 16 Picture 2

Cop 16 Picture 3

Cop 16 Picture 1

Cop 16 Picture 4

Toronto Housing Crisis

Tim McSorley — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:03:57 +0000

TORONTO-The City of Toronto is struggling to cope with an ongoing housing crisis, according to The Toronto Report Card on Housing and Homelessness, published by the City of Toronto. The study reveals that 550,000 residents are living in poverty—that’s roughly 25% of the city’s population. With few options available to them, thousands find themselves living on the streets. In 2002, 32,000 people stayed in Toronto’s emergency shelters; 4,779 of these were children. Well-over 500 people have died on the streets as a result of being homeless. With the financial crisis being felt around the world, there are no indications the situation is improving. For one of the wealthiest cities in the world, how is this allowed to happen?

The following photos tell the stories of a few of the people who have found themselves losing control over their lives, living in government housing or on the streets, as well as some people who are raising questions about the City’s priorities and looking for solutions themselves.

Abandonment Issues is a coalition of housing activists fighting to have abandoned buildings converted into affordable housing. According to the group, "Toronto is in the throes of an affordable housing crisis that has seen thousands of citizens made homeless [...] Property that could house people is going to waste.

"When communities assert a collective right to their own neighborhoods, municipal policy should support them, not oppose them."

Allan Lissner is an independent photojournalist based in Toronto, Canada. Some of the organizations Allan has done work with include Amnesty International, GlobalAware Independent Media, Oxfam Canada and Make Poverty History.

The Dominion - Allan Lissner

Excluded, but not Silenced

Toronto Housing Crisis