Affordable housing for economic justice

Karl Flecker is a human rights/labour rights and anti-racism activist, with 30+ years experience advancing social justice throughout the America's, Asia and the Europe.

In 2015, Karl received the CWY/JCM iLEad award recognizing his career-long commitment to building global citizenship within local communities. 

The Canadian Human Rights Commission recognizes Karl as a Human Rights Leader for his "outstanding contributions to the development of Human Rights Maturity Model in 2013".

As an Immigrant Employment Specialist with KEYS Job Centre  he found unique  ways for internationally educated health professionals to lend their skills in fighting the pandemic.  

He coordinated legal education training for over 125 immigrant community leaders and front line workers enhancing their ability to advocate for their workplace rights.

As a skilled educator, researcher and writer Karl has helped community groups in South Africa, India, Myanmar, Brazil, Japan fight against corporate takeovers of public water systems and protect public services. 

Newcomers to Canada often arrive with modest resources and face systemic barriers in accessing the labour market.  

International credentials and experience are typically not recognized, and newcomers face daily challenges with labour market and social integration due to differences in language, culture and race.  

Affordable housing in our community, like many across Canada, is in very short supply.

Our project will showcase the construction of 90-164 affordable housing units on city owned lands. The build will be part of a housing cooperative. A community benefits agreement will employ up to 25 newcomers in various capacities (architects, project managers, skilled trades) whose international skills and experience will be formally recognized as they literally help build their new homes in the community. A social enterprise/incubator space and a revenue generating community garden will also be part of the build. 

This project will build a stronger, more diverse community while promoting economic justice.

People can't find decent and affordable housing. Our community has the record low vacancy rate (0.6%) in all of Ontario and very high rental prices. Nearly 50% or local renter households pay more than 30% of their income on rent. 

Kingston is a federally designated community welcoming government assisted refugees from all over the world (@ 450 as of 2020) and the local community has also privately sponsored that number of refugees. In addition, each year, 1000's of immigrants are making Kingston their new home.

At the same time, in an increasingly polarized world, racism and xenophobia are on the rise. Kingston is now one of the top 10 cities in Canada for police-reported hate crimes.

Despite a wealth of international experience, credentials and training, newcomers face many systemic barriers to continue in their professions and access decent jobs.  

Regulatory bodies for professional and skilled trades maintain expensive barriers and provide limited opportunities for fair labour market integration of newcomers. 

Employers are often reluctant to hire newcomers. 

With modest personal savings, limited affordable housing, newcomers face challenges with successful labour market and community integration. This in turn negatively impacts dignity, well being, and hinders the development of inclusive welcoming communities.

The KEYS Job Centre partnered with Kingston Cooperative Homes, and the Canadian Cooperative Federation.  The City of Kingston requested we present a proposal to build 90-164 affordable housing units on City owned and serviced lands. 

Our proposal has 3 unique components.  i) It will entail a Community Benefits Agreement requiring the building contractor to hire up to 25 newcomers to be part of the construction site workforce.  Our agency will secure training funding and provide a job ready orientation program for these newcomer workers. Qualified newcomers (architects, project managers, skilled trades) will be able to have their credentials recognized while learning on the job. 

ii) The building site will include a social enterprise/business incubator space where community members can pilot their own small business initiatives. 

iii) The building site will include a gardens space focusing on producing crops that can generate a revenue and provide exposure to foods specific to other cultures. 

This project will showcase how affordable housing can be built while creating employment and credential recognition opportunities for newcomers. Social enterprise spaces will be integrated, while adding to the affordable housing stock. 

Economic opportunities will be linked to the strength and diversity of cultures, gardens, and entrepreneurial activities. 

Newcomers to Kingston come from all over the world.  Hundreds are refugees, 1000's are immigrants seeking a better life and/or to re-unite with family members. 

Newcomers come with skills and experience in every occupation and area of entrepreneurial activity that you can imagine. 

However, being able to access decent jobs, economic opportunities and affordable housing are persistent challenges that damage the livability of the city for everyone. 

In 2015, we helped establish an Immigrant Led Working Group (ILWG) bringing together newcomers interested in advocating for greater economic, labour market and social integration of immigrants into the social, cultural and economic spheres of their new community. 

This group has played an important role in advocating for labour market and social inclusion policies with the City, with local media, civic committees  and in holding public events. 

Throughout 2018-19, the IWLG held a series of community conversations, under a campaign banner of Better Together,  that explored community based ideas that could better promote economic justice, social inclusion and address xenophobia and racism.  

After dozens of sessions and inputs from hundreds of community members, the opportunity to focus on the promotion of affordable housing as vehicle for economic justice was prioritized. 

Our project re-frames intertwined problems (the lack of economic justice, affordable housing and an appreciation of diversity) into a solution. 

By working with established stakeholders (Cooperative housing advocates, municipal government, front line social service agencies) the project demonstrates how diverse communities can literally build inclusive homes. 

Using contractual tools like a community benefit agreement creates meaningful employment opportunities, and  challenges international credential recognition barriers.

Adding to the City's affordable housing stock with 90-164 units, in part built by newcomers and host  social enterprise/business incubator space, and revenue generating gardens feature diverse food crops also challenges xenophobia at the gut level. 

For 5 years I worked one-to-one with hundreds of newcomers trying to access the labour market in their new home.  Although every individual had a unique story, all shared a common narrative. 

Systemic discrimination in the job market, barriers to credential recognition, limited financial resources, unaffordable housing and more was impacting their dignity and aspirations to create a new life in a new place. 

In late 2015, I proposed the formation of group so that individuals could see the commonality of their struggles. It was dubbed the Immigrant Led Working Group (ILWG).  

The group flourished, talented people with diverse global experiences came together to advocate for policy changes at the community level.  Jobs and housing were two powerful themes that united group members. 

The Mayor struck a Task Force to study the issue and propose remedies, we lobbied for access to that table.  

I proposed the ILWG advocate building more affordable housing while taking strategic advantage of international skills and talent within the community. 

By late 2018, a parcel of city owned and serviced land became available for development.  I suggested to a few Councillors that the City approach community groups for their ideas on how to develop the property.

There are more than 65 million refugees in the world today plus an estimated 1 billion migrants. Some are international migrants (258M) some internal (763M) and many (68M) are forcible displaced.

People have been on the move for a very long time.  Despite the current pandemic, people continue to look for safe place to call home. 

It is a global reality, and effective challenges associated with human migration often lie at the community level, and with those familiar with resettlement.  

My career has involved advocating for progressive immigration policies at the global and national levels. I have forged friendships with thousands of newcomers, alliances with social service providers and negotiated policy reforms with governments. 

For me, what makes a lasting and deeply motivating impact is when diverse groups come together to advance local projects that improve the social and economic well being of neighbours. 

I live and work in Kingston,(some 30 years now) and at this moment, key stakeholders including the City of Kingston, affordable housing advocates and an inspiring group of volunteers with the ILWG see an opportunity to make a difference on their main street. 

I am a skilled organizer that knows this community well, and bring relevant  international and national background experiences. 

My career includes 8+ years as the National Director of Human Rights/Anti-Racism for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).  I led progressive labour migration policy reforms at the national and international level.  

I volunteer with a Global Working Group of experts for a European based NGO, (Foundation of European Progressives)  that has written policy papers and advocated for reforms at the United Nations, the UN Global Forum on Migration & Development and with the European Union. 

I  serve as a Board Member and  held senior staff positions with a research and activist think tank (Polaris Institute) dedicated supporting  peoples movements  to re-skill and re-tool themselves to bring about democratic social change. 

My background also includes establishing start-ups and small businesses that are social enterprises.  This includes helping a group of newcomer women establish a coop that makes stunning handbags from recycled rubber and leather. The Begin Again Group (B.A.G) products are featured at the Aga Khan Museum and  sell on-line and with retailers. 

I am also the lead staff for this initiative in my capacity at the KEYS Job Centre.

Initially Kingston Cooperative Homes was hesitant to our proposal. 

KCH is nearing the end of a 30 year mortgage on their existing housing complex.  

Managing a housing cooperative  is done by a volunteer board and one staff person.  

Considering taking on a new building project of this size, and the financial cost is daunting. Add to that the challenges of bringing in newcomers with diverse cultures, a contractual commitment to negotiate a community benefits agreement clause for the general contractor, and a social enterprise and gardens space; can understandably leave anyone tentative. 

We have invested the last 6 months talking with the KCH Board members, actively listening to their concerns.  We outline where and how we can approach funding bodies to help finance specific project components. We amend as needed, or withdraw ideas that are untenable. We utilize the skills from the ILWG to take on tasks that a volunteer Board does not have the time or expertise too undertake. We develop a proposed action plan to address each challenge -discuss and amend as needed. We build common cause.

We often say, 'let's take each impossible challenge one step at a time'.  

When my wife and I moved to Kingston, it was a long time before we could put an offer on an older home, that we could barely afford.

An old rickety fence separated our yard from a neighbour. We had one toddler and another on the way. The yard was our imagined play space for us and our kids.  

I approached my new neighbour to discuss replacing the fence, and discovered we had moved next door to a violent racist. Months of verbal abuse followed including death threats. 

At the time I had been leading anti-racism organizational change projects in town. We spoke to our neighbours about our situation. Those discussions led to our neighbours organizing a public event, called Neighbour's United Against Racism. It was little more than yard sale with a theme, t-shirts and a message of unity.  Hundreds of community people attended. The local paper reprinted our graphic ' of a thumb print with the words 'Thumbs down on Racism' in the centre spread of the weekend paper.  

Seeing the community act together, ended the abuse.  

Neighbours continue to were their T-shirts with pride, annual fundraising events provide books from other cultures for local schools.