Still Renovating

Greg Suttor is a housing researcher at the Wellesley Institute in Toronto.

"Suttor recognizes that many elements have gone into the making of social housing policy. Apart from the more obvious economic & political considerations, these include institutional inertia and the impact of key individuals. Complex and balanced, his account is thoroughly convincing." Richard Harris, McMaster University "Suttor outlines in considerable detail the effect of the main drivers of policy: reconstruction imperatives after the war, rapid growth and urbanization, the influence of policy initiatives in other countries, labour politics, economic trends, the broader housing market trends, federal-provincial relations, broader welfare trends, and the influence of particular politicians and policy experts. I doubt there is another publication on Canadian social housing policy that provides this level of detail on the policy shifts and the causes of these shifts over this sixty-plus-year period." Tom Carter, University of Winnipeg "A wonderful book and appearing at a very opportune moment. Housing is currently a major item of political interest, not to mention political controversy, stemming from the extreme housing costs particularly in Toronto and Vancouver. Still Renovating is meticulously researched and combines this with an ability to draw out major broad themes; the welfare state, institutional momentum, public views about slum clearance and about the acceptability or not of homelessness, ideas both Canadian and worldwide and, finally, individual actors that have made a difference. Certainly a book to read and, more than that, a book to keep." Canadian Journal of Urban Research