The Misinterpreted Motive: The Long Term Impacts and Social Repercussions of the Subsidized and Low-Income Housing on the Families and Children of African Immigrants in the greater Toronto Area in Canada

By: Percy Konadu Yiadom BSW, MSW

The decision of the Canadian government to implement the policy of providing subsidized housing to low-income and single families was very unprecedented. Under this policy, housing of various standards has been provided to families within different income categories and brackets, thereby enabling the government to provide affordable housing to the average deserving family in Canada. Maintaining families and enhancing children’s welfare has always been the overarching goal of most Canadian government social policies. The government of Canada has reputations around the world for its concern and care for its families and therefore it has never been unusual for Canada to be rated the best welfare nation in the world by the United Nations on several occasions. However, while the rationale and the motive behind these social policies remain undisputed, most beneficiaries of these services have either abused or misinterpreted the core reason underpinning the implementation of this low-income housing policy. The government of Canada having realized the need for migration anticipated the possibility of immigrants coming into this country and needing help with shelter and clothing among other things, and therefore made the right preparation to combat these imminent problems whenever they surface. The Canadian government also foresaw the imminence of calamities and tragedies including families divorcing or separating, breadwinners losing their jobs and livelihood, people falling ill and losing their homes because they cannot afford their mortgages to mention but a few and made provisions to accommodate their human unforeseen contingencies. The overarching goal for these housing policies was nothing but to relieve families and individuals during difficult times and also to boost families up to economic independence. These homes were therefore to serve as transit points and relief shelters to help families put their pieces together but not as permanent residence to breed social vices.
The bottom-line is the rationale behind the subsidized and low-income housing policies, the welfare policies and the other forms of social assistance is to provide economic and social relieve and assistances to new immigrants, citizens or residents who needs help due to certain circumstances such as loss of jobs, loss of incomes or incapable to work due to old age or ill-health. Thus no matter which direction one views these forms of assistances, their benefits and the motives for their establishments far outweighs the recurrent problems that these services have generated. Having said these, the ever increasing social problems faced by those immigrant families who have maintained these temporary homes as their permanent residence and have persistently refused to relocate despite the fact that most of these low-income housing neighborhoods have turned into safe haven for gangs and drugs peddlers cannot be overruled. Personal observations and interviews conducted in these neighborhoods revealed that a larger number of families who live in these low-income housing are immigrants, minorities and singe parents. The obvious questions which looms in people’s mind is “why are families strong and united if one or both parents works to maintain the home such as paying for the mortgage or paying for the apartment at market prices but the families begin falling apart whenever the mothers are supported with subsidized housing where they basically live for free?. It is usually expected that families will function better and grow stronger and more unified whenever the parents are less burdened, but surprisingly, these African immigrant families continue to fall apart to the detriment of their children whenever these housing burden are relieved. From a personal perception and point of view, I strongly believe that the average person or people have their own ways of live, and it is through these peculiar ways that person or group of people are identified. It is therefore possible and easy for people to learn each other’s culture depending on their interest and willingness but extremely difficult and cumbersome whenever a foreign culture is placed on people from different ethnic background. Reversely, African cultures like men being the breadwinners and the authority figures in the family did not only ensure family stability but children welfare was guaranteed as well. Under these traditional systems of living, men were not only decision makers but the backbone of the whole family, the wives therefore needed their husbands to function and the children also needed their fathers to live. No matter how crude and authoritative this system may sound to you, its importance in family maintenance and children’s wellbeing can never be under-emphasized and belittled. Fathers were always around to raise and train their children; children always respected and listened to their parents. Children always ate what was put on the table and never talked back to their parents, elders and teachers. Women were obligated to maintain their homes to avoid degradation and being socially belittled due to divorce or separation. All marital issues were surmountable and peace and sanity always prevailed by the virtue of the family and traditional systems and elders. Divorce and separation were considered unfortunate and the last result instead of a fashion and a means to an end. Women always remained faithful and committed to their husbands for the sake of seeking a better future for their children, and for the simple fact that divorce, separation and single parenthood are alien to the African culture and hence the large number of African immigrant children falling through the social cracks due to the lack of father figures, role models and authority figures to raise and shape their future directions. Euphemistically, it has always been stated that even in the animal kingdom, there are rules and regulations, so what should we expect if our children are raised without rules and regulations and without a firm line distinguishing what can be done and what cannot be? Historically, children from African descent respect, and recognize their fathers as their role models and authority figures and therefore the absence of their fathers in the family homes is seen as a breakdown in the family dynamics and therefore an opportunity to cease to become the men of the house to run the show and steer the family in their direction without any responsible supervision. It is therefore not surprising that most male children from African parents raised by their mothers in single homes have become incorrigible
In conclusion, the low-income and subsidized housing, the welfare system and the other social assistance in Canada are examples of master-craft legislations and policies implemented in our era, they have immeasurable benefits on the lives of the beneficiaries and the societies as a whole, how would Canada look like to immigrants if these services were non-existent?. However, like any policy the negative components and impacts on the families who have remained stalked in these homes need to be addressed. Let’s all face realities and consider the number of white families who live in low-income homes in the greater Toronto area, why don’t they also take advantage of these almost free housing opportunities and save their monies spent on apartments and mortgages? And how many minorities are living in these low-income homes thinking that they are exploiting the tax payers and the government by living for free? The obvious answer is vividly clear that those families who have ignored these low-income houses have put the future of their families especially their children and their economic independence as their priorities. They have decided to raise their children in good neighborhoods, to attend good schools and benefit from the positive influences of the society in which they live. Unlike most of us who have prioritized our personal aggrandizements including building mansions and driving expensive cars back home at the expense of our children who badly need us as fathers and mothers to raise, care, guide and supervise them just as we were privileged to have received these from our parents. Let’s all agree that the past is gone and irreversible but it is never too late to make amendments, let’s utilize our economic potentials and zeal to work and care for our children instead of continuously remaining redundant under the so-called notion of living in low-income housing and therefore should remain unemployed and economically deprived because the more income you make the higher your rent, this notion is doing most African immigrants more harm than help and misplacing our God given talents of hardworking and resiliency.