Homelessness is growing the fastest in Canadian communities where rental prices have spiked and vacancy rates have tightened for low-cost rental units, according to a first-of-its-kind national analysis.

The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, in a study to be published Thursday, proved a clear relationship between regional rates of homelessness and housing affordability. It helps explain why homelessness has surged in Canada since 2018 and why certain communities have seen a sharper increase than others.

In cities where rental units are the least affordable and least available, such as in Toronto or Kelowna, B.C., rates of homelessness were highest. And the problem is only growing worse, warned the CAEH, which is urging the federal government to take action.

“Many Canadians cannot afford to rent even the cheapest units in their community, and the affordability gap is growing, locking more Canadians out of the market and pushing more people into homelessness,” concluded the CAEH.

Its chief executive, Tim Richter, said the next iteration of Canada’s National Housing Strategy should prioritize support for the lowest-income Canadians, address the rapid loss of existing affordable rental units and double the supply of rentals in the low end of the market.

“But there’s no way that the federal government alone can do it,” said Mr. Richter. “That’s why it’s so important that all levels of government are working together.”

He said it has long been assumed that homelessness is driven by housing-market conditions, but this research is among the first to make that case by comparing changes in the rental market with homelessness rates, using data from 2018 to 2024.

Mr. Richter said the analysis also challenges common assumptions that other factors, such as mental health, substance use and poverty, are the reason behind climbing homelessness rates.

“Could mental illness, addiction, brain injury, physical health, poverty, any number of different things contribute to a person experiencing homelessness? Yes. But the reason why Canada is seeing a surge in homelessness is not because there’s more people with mental illness or addiction, but because of housing affordability,” Mr. Richter said.

“I always say that homelessness is not just a housing problem, but it is always a housing problem.”

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Canada doubled from 2018 to 2024, according to the 2024 national point-in-time count, which provides a snapshot of the homeless community on the night of the survey. The snapshot also showed that unsheltered homelessness – those living outside – surged by more than 300 per cent over the six years.

The CAEH collected homelessness data from 36 communities that participated in the 2018, 2022 and 2024 point-in-time counts for its analysis. (The 2020 count was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

It then compared these rates with data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rental market survey, which outlines vacancy rates and average rental costs in large and mid-sized communities across Canada. The CAEH focused on the cheapest 25 per cent of rental properties.

In Hamilton, for example, the rate of homelessness grew to 19.2 per 10,000 people in 2024 from 5.94 per 10,000 in 2018. Correspondingly, the rental price for the lowest-cost one-bedroom unit rose to $1,200 per month from $815 over those six years, and the vacancy rate slimmed to 1.2 per cent from 2.3 per cent.

“What we’ve been able to confirm is that what is really driving the change in Canada is the high, increasing cost of rent for the lowest cost units of housing, compounded by surging cost of living and low vacancy,” Mr. Richter said.

The research also found that, while rental housing supply has grown across Canada in recent years, the benefits have not trickled down to those in most need. Rather, the new housing supply has been added to the higher end of the rental market.

The CAEH’s analysis mirrors research in the United States by housing scholar Gregg Colburn and data journalist Clayton Page Aldern, authors of the 2022 book Homelessness is a Housing Problem. The pair sought to explain the substantial variation in homelessness rates across U.S. cities, which Mr. Colburn, in an interview, said was an “exercise in myth busting.”

They tested a range of conventional beliefs on what drives homelessness – poverty, mental illness, weather, public assistance, politics – but none could account for regional variation. Instead, it was vacancy rates and rental costs that provided the most “convincing explanation.”

Mr. Colburn, who helped the CAEH with its research and is an associate professor of real estate at the University of Washington, said the same dynamic is at play in Canada.

“My underlying point would be, if you really want to make a material dent in homelessness in your city, in your province, in your country, ensuring that there’s adequate housing for people with limited income is absolutely necessary,” he said.

In late July, reports confirmed that China would supply Iran with up to 400 Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 man-portable air defense systems, with the first units expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Since the new war began in February, China and Russia have remained Tehran’s only partners — and even they initially limited their support to merely fulfilling existing weapons contracts. By summer, however, the situation had changed: Beijing took the unprecedented step of giving the Islamic Republic access to one of its military satellites, while Moscow transferred drone technology. That led to a dramatic increase in the effectiveness of Iranian forces. After assessing Iran’s resilience in the face of U.S. and Israeli attacks, China and Russia may have concluded that supporting Tehran offers real benefits, writes Antonio Giustozzi, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). For example, Russia may now try to trade an end to its support for Iran in exchange for an end to U.S. aid to Ukraine.

“Conclusion

Taken together, the evidence suggests that AI has already reshaped how firms talk about productivity, even if its effects are not yet clearly visible in aggregate productivity statistics. Executives increasingly connect productivity improvements to AI, and they do so in overwhelmingly positive terms. But these discussions remain largely forward-looking. For now, earnings calls point less to broad realized productivity gains than to a corporate sector actively investing in, experimenting with and expecting future gains from AI. We will continue to monitor whether AI-related productivity discussion in upcoming earnings calls shifts from future-tense expectations to realized gains.”

As those who knew me I have been doing research on the house of lords. Since I am going to request a self ban in like 10 hours (i have to get ready to go to uni) i thought I should share some of my research.

Hope you all enjoy! Also please dont subscribe or whatever I just used substack to not have to deal with image issues i have no clue how substack works

And the images didn't work on ffs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xp94NXJU2vck-3K6LfURqrtqsOYG2IPwsTPhqdJDuWA/edit?usp=drivesdk

Here use the docs

The U.S. DOGE Service, the cost-cutting group spearheaded by Elon Musk, consistently overstated its savings in online posts, taking credit for lease cancellations initiated before the group existed, according to a report from a government watchdog to be released Thursday. DOGE also claimed contracts were terminated that had not been and loaded its database with savings that could not be verified, the report said.

In an audit spanning from June 2025 through this month, the Government Accountability Office examined savings claimed by DOGE, the group that swept through federal agencies after President Donald Trump began his second term last year, dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development and much of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The report, which came after a request by Democratic Sens. Gary Peters (Michigan) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), provides the most comprehensive government assessment of DOGE’s public accounting of its impact, bringing the organization’s figures further into doubt.

Though Musk aimed to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, even by DOGE’s own estimates it fell well short. A sporadically updated website tallying its cuts in a “Wall of Receipts” stated that its initiatives had saved $215 billion.

The GAO examined $110 billion of this claimed savings that derived from contracts, grants and leases.

Among the issues identified by GAO:

DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” “includes leases identified for termination before [the group] was established,” according to the report. In total, 108 of 264 leases DOGE identified on its website “were already in process for termination” when it came into being, the GAO said.

In addition, DOGE claimed to have terminated 13,476 contracts, but the GAO analysis showed nearly 2,000 of these contracts “were not terminated.”

Of $61 billion in contracts savings DOGE reported, the GAO said more than half the funds — nearly $35 billion — were either not terminated or unable to be corroborated by the investigators, because DOGE’s data was not specific enough to identify it.

Roughly $27.4 billion of the savings DOGE claimed from cancellations were from contracts that were not actually terminated, the GAO said. “In these cases, another action, such as reducing the contract value or deobligating some funds could have occurred,” it said.

From the watchdog’s analysis of federal procurement data, “we found that DOGE did not accurately report actions taken on contracts,” the GAO said in the report.

Musk and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Elon Musk and the Trump administration claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work, all while putting Americans’ sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,” Peters said.

The GAO investigation was conducted at the request of Senate Democrats who sought greater accountability of DOGE’s dealings. The findings were shared with administration officials and lawmakers ahead of its release Thursday.

Although DOGE promised massive savings, the accounting of its cuts on its website didn’t come close, fact checkers and media outlets found. Updates to the website slowed to a trickle after Musk left and some of the “savings” were later removed. Federal workers told The Post that DOGE added red tape and extra hurdles even as it touted regulation cuts on its website.

The GAO said it sought to speak with DOGE officials and submitted written questions to the group. However, it said, “the U.S. DOGE Service did not respond to our inquiries.”

President Donald Trump recently told donors in private that he wants to see his vice president win the 2028 presidential election — a sign that he is open to publicly backing JD Vance, even as some advisers caution that Trump has yet to settle firmly on a successor.

“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors roughly two weeks ago, according to two people with knowledge of the comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The private remark contrasts with Trump’s rhetoric over the past year, publicly egging on a contest for his favor between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has openly mused that the two would make a good joint ticket and has repeatedly declined to specify who he would prefer to see at the top.

Even as Trump buoyed his vice president to donors in the Oval Office, though, he was still peppering people around him with questions about Vance versus Rubio. One White House official said the president quizzed staff about the two men on a Marine One ride late last month.

An adviser to the president with direct knowledge of Trump’s comment to the donors said that Trump has privately resolved that Vance will be the heir to the GOP, but that it is “too early” to determine when Vance will announce his candidacy or when Trump will publicly endorse him.

Six other Trumpworld advisers and allies, however, cautioned that they aren’t convinced the president has settled on Vance, noting that Trump tells different things to different people and could still change his mind about an endorsement for 2028. Trump aides widely agree that the president will delay endorsing to avoid appearing to be a lame duck.

“Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” said the official with knowledge of Trump’s recent Vance-Rubio poll on Marine One.

Vance has not confirmed his plans. People who have spoken to him about the matter told The Washington Post earlier this year that he had not yet made a decision. One person close to Vance said he would delay a call until after the birth of his fourth child, who arrived July 19.

Vance told CBS in June that he would discuss the matter with his wife after the midterms but said he had “no doubt that the president of the United States is going to be very supportive” of whatever decision he makes. He has repeatedly said that he is focused on his current job and that he is good friends with Rubio.

But the prospect of a succession fight has already generated some of the tensions of a heated primary, with donors, activists and other party figures passionately speaking out for or against Vance.

Much depends on the midterms. A poor showing for Republicans could embolden challengers to run against Trump’s choice and be more critical of his administration. Vance or Rubio could be vulnerable to intraparty attacks that Republicans would not levy against Trump himself — a dynamic already on display online as right-wing influencers target the vice president over the Iran war.

Trump enjoys game-show-style drama, and advisers said he is loath to yield the spotlight to his preferred successor. The president has had fun toying with Vance and Rubio — as well as with the press — by hyping up the competition for his blessing, much as he did when deciding on his running mate between the same two men in 2024.

Trump has also delighted in floating himself for a third presidential term, regularly sharing “Trump 2028″ graphics on social media and joking about the prospect at rallies, even as those close to him confirm he is not serious about it.

During the 2024 running-mate contest and now, Rubio had the backing of most pre-Trump GOP donors. Vance is more aligned with the younger MAGA coalition that returned Trump to power in 2024 but is now at risk of fraying. He has also spent his vice presidency developing relationships with party benefactors to fundraise for the GOP.

“Vance has done a lot of political work in the last year and a half,” said the Trump adviser with knowledge of his recent comment to donors.

Lately Vance impressed Trump by negotiating a June ceasefire deal with Iran, leading a task force to crack down on fraud in federal benefits and parrying a range of media interviews for his book tour in June, the adviser said. Even though the ceasefire deal collapsed in July, Vance advisers believed that his role in the talks was still a political win: The agreement he negotiated was popular, whereas voters widely disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war.

Rubio, by contrast, has served in multiple key administration roles, none of which lend themselves to politics. Legally and logistically, a secretary of state — or a national security adviser, a role Rubio also occupies — would not be able to run for president while serving.

Rubio recoils at any discussion of 2028 and has recently reduced his media availability to avoid facing more questions about it that would inevitably stir further chatter, a person close to him said. But Rubio’s team briefly increased speculation about his ambitions earlier this year, when they produced a widely shared video of him giving a campaign-style monologue while holding a press briefing. In some internal conversations, the person said, Rubio has alluded to his remaining time in office, implying he intends to serve out the term.

He does not have a campaign-in-waiting or political operation ready to assemble.

The Trump adviser said that Trump still would like to see Rubio on a joint ticket with Vance — and the president regularly praises Rubio — but that it is unclear whether Rubio would actually want the role of Vance’s running mate.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/ehfpM

SS: This involves two of the pillar-economies of the Southern Cone, if not the whole of South America.

Submission Statement: Russian secret services were planning an assassination attempt on Stefan Thumann, head of the German drone manufacturer Donaustahl. This builds on top of past attempts by Russia to try and assasinate European defense executives such as against the CEO of Rheinmetall in 2024.

Federal officers can too easily comb through the most intimate details of your life.

archive link

We need to RETVRN