It’s extremely difficult to find the jumping off point when it comes to boiling down the workings of the housing corporation, as well as the seething sentiments of it’s minion of residents. As a resident of housing for the past 25 years I’ve learned that the cardinal rule of being a good tenant is to ensure you keep the peace because voices of dissent will be silenced at the cost of your comfort, that being what it is. The most you can really state as  a benefit in this low income menagerie is that you are not on the street. Some would say the street is a kinder place. I am searching for a way to find anything positive to say about these places but I find myself butting up against walls of oppression, of dictatorship, of the stripping away of all remnants of self esteem that any tenant may have tried to form in order to make peace within this system. Before I began this article on government housing I briefly caught a moment on CNN where President Obama was condemning Iran for it’s intolerance to democracy and it‘s treatment of those who oppose their leader who regained his power through corruption. I pondered the similarities to the present conditions the tenants are now enduring. They haven’t reached the point where lives are lost(though some have been) this of course is Canada. But the psychological losses ring true to the dissidents of our housing system.  Tenants have been so completely belittled by those in charge they shudder at the idea that they may have to interact with the management. A simple trip to the office to complete a lease renewal or to offer statements of an increase in income hesitantly begins the process of treatment that wouldn’t be tolerated by any one living in any privately managed dwelling or any business for that matter. As well, the operating hours reflect the presumption that no one works here.  We have endless amounts of leisure time to complete these requests. You’re immediately attacked by the staff, which already has the disempowering drill ready in their minds. Where’s the paper your missing, you must have not completed the documents correctly.  You are treated as if you are below their intellectual level. And yet you think to yourself, how can you be my superior when I can teach you how this job should be done? You stand at the desk being degraded for not having fulfilled your duty as a tenant, knowing full well that everything is in order. I sometimes remind the staff when they’re wielding this undeserved power that without the tenants they would have no jobs. The other tenants seem to perk up a little bit after being slightly empowered for a moment. I am asked immediately to leave the premises and return at another time. This opposition to the powers that be has made me into a target tenant which in turn makes me subject to immeasurable retaliation. I’m not alone in this campaign to seize the reins of power. We all fight different battles. There are many: maintenance, safety, healthy homes and the biggest battle of all “respect”. We, the  tenants have much to gain and very little to lose. Remember that a voice of dissent is not a criminal act and the Housing Authority cannot banish you from your community unless you have broken the rules in some way.  An opinion is not an evictable offence.  Use your intelligence and confidence and make your self heard to any and every one who can change your life here.

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