Housing Justice Oral History Project (Canada)

About Housing Justice Oral History Project (Canada)

Housing Justice Archive (see housingjusticearchive.com (https://housingjusticearchive.com/)) is a collection of oral history interviews—formerly known as the Housing Justice Oral History Project (Canada). It is an educational resource concerned with centering the voices of the housing justice movement in Canada. With accounts from activists, outreach workers, street nurses, unhoused citizens, artists, writers, and researchers, the project aims to deepen public understanding of the housing crisis in Canada. How did we get here? What organizing efforts and individuals have led the advocacy for unhoused and precariously housed Canadians? Why do things seem to be getting worse? What are the relationships between housing, health, food security, colonization, racism, and contemporary forms of capitalism? The oral history interviews collected here are done in collaboration with several organizations, most based in Toronto and Vancouver, active over the last 40 years. Some are no longer active, with others are part of more recent struggles for housing justice. What do these activist histories have to teach those involved today in tenant organizing, policy change, shaping media narratives, writing books, making art, or building community? Organizations that have supported the development of this project include the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC), Street Health Toronto, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), 230 Fightback, Sanctuary Toronto, the Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union (TUHU), and many more. This project is led by timothy martin, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University, under the incredible supervision of Ann Chinnery in the Faculty of Education. Cover photo: courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives (Nancy Baker, c. 2005).

Publisher

timothy martin

Category

education · history

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

17 Feb 2026

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

11 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Del: "listen to their stories"

   The full interview with Del, of the Dakelh or Carrier Nation. Del is the Vice-President of VANDU and the President of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (or WAHRS). Something that is implicit in everything she does and says is the idea that you cannot do research, educate others, or build a movement without understanding the people. Relationship is central to her work with WAHRS and VANDU, and she has impressed upon me the requirement that research be in dialogue with, and centre the voices of, those facing the sharp end of the housing crisis. I got to sit on the back patio at VANDU with Del, with a soundscape of crows and helicopters, and have a conversation on June 10, 2026. In this conversation, we talk about the legal battle facing two members of the Drug User Liberation Front (or DULF), why the work of Our Homes Can’t Wait feels overwhelming, Ken Sim’s mayoralty, FIFA’s impact on the DTES, and the poor quality and provision of affordable housing in Vancouver. Huge thanks to Del; I hope you enjoy. Image: VANDU Archives

2. 

   16 Sept 2026

   Scotty Archondous: “Your lonely circle is actually not lonely”

   The full oral history interview with Scott Archondous. Scott is a board member at VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users). This interview marks the first of several interviews with organizers and advocates from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES). Stay tuned for more! Image Credit: VANDU Archives.

3. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Greg Cook: "The Art of the Possible"

   The full oral history interview with Greg Cook. Links: Shelter and Housing Justice Network https://www.instagram.com/shjnetwork/ (https://www.instagram.com/shjnetwork/) Displacement City (book) https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487546496 (https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487546496)

4. 

   14 Aug 2026

   Lorraine Lam: "Come and see for yourself"

   The full oral history with outreach worker and community organizer Lorraine Lam.

5. 

   25 Jun 2026

   John Clarke: "the real fight lies ahead"

   The full oral history interview with John Clarke (OCAP, 23oFightback). Photo credit: Christopher Bognat, City of Toronto Archives.

6. 

   18 Jun 2026

   Greg Paul. Mutuality and Liberation: “from talking about housing to talking about homes”

   The full oral history interview with Greg Paul of Sanctuary Toronto.

7. 

   15 May 2026

   Bob Rose: "If you don't understand the words, listen to the tune"

   Interview with Bob Rose—PARC staff member, TDRC member, storyteller, musician, and good listener. Photo: from the Toronto Homeless Memorial, Fall 2006 (City of Toronto Archives)

8. 

   26 Feb 2026

   Cathy Crowe and Beric German: "Warriors from a different time"

   The full oral history interview with Cathy Crowe and Beric German. (Image Credit: Cathy Crowe)

9. 

   25 Feb 2026

   Gaétan Héroux: "Everything the poor have was fought for"

   The full oral history interview with Gaetan Heroux. (Image credit: Gaetan Heroux, "Bay Street has no business at Dundas and Sherbourne," May 31, 2023. YouTube.)

10. 

    25 Feb 2026

    The Colonel: "All we want is a little place to live"

    The full oral history interview with The Colonel. (Image Credit: City of Toronto Archives)

11. 

    17 Feb 2026

    What is the Housing Justice Oral History Project?

    In this trailer, timothy martin explores some of the thinking that underpins the project, while we get glimpses into the testimonies offered in the “episodes” to come. Each oral history interview preserves the voices and memory of significant contributors to the housing justice movement in Canada. As Beric German says, this is…a time… We are living through a time. It is a time for action, a time for stories, a time for remembrance—the bouquets of whispering grasses that we must, each of us, gather up and pass on to a world that is not yet. Yet we must also do the work of making the world that we imagine, the one we hope to share. With thanks to The Colonel, Gaetan Heroux, Bob Rose, Beric German, Cathy Crowe, my supervisor Ann Chinnery (SFU), and others.

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