Let's admit it: Many of us don’t want social housing anywhere near us. We fear what an influx of people from shelters, and others with all manner of social problems, will do to our lives.

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At first blush, Ottawa Council’s recent vote requiring the housing director to consider “the cumulative effect and community impact” of supportive housing on neighbourhoods before funding such projects, seems benign enough. Just a call to make sure adequate support services are in place for people moving from shelters into supportive housing in established neighbourhoods.

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But dig a little deeper, and there is a whiff of NYMBYism — a not-in-my-backyard sentiment that can’t be ignored. This is not what we need at a time when shelters are bursting at the seams, and federal money is flowing to build affordable and supportive housing for the many who need it.

The motion from River ward Coun. Riley........

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