Federal housing officials approved nearly $1.2 million in taxpayer funding for a program that handed out cameras to homeless individuals as part of an arts-based exhibition, despite internal records showing the initiative struggled to meet its goals and lacked clear data on its target population.Blacklock's Reporter says Access to Information documents show the funding, totalling $1,199,921, was allocated through a Veteran Homelessness Program overseen by Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s department. The project, led by Toronto-based advocacy group Egale Canada, aimed to document the lived experiences of homeless sexual minority veterans through photography.However, a project update dated June 4 acknowledged early setbacks, noting “photo elicitation didn’t go as planned as some participants were not comfortable taking photos,” while recruitment also proved difficult in the initial stages.Egale Canada’s proposal outlined plans to locate homeless gay veterans in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax, with a goal of engaging about 30 participants. Records later showed the program was scaled back to just two cities — Ottawa and an undisclosed location — as organizers struggled to identify eligible participants. “The exact population is unknown,” the group wrote.Despite the uncertainty, the organization proceeded with an arts-based approach, distributing cameras to participants and encouraging them to capture images reflecting their daily lives. The photographs were intended for use in a public exhibition accompanied by written statements from contributors..In its original funding request of nearly $1.5 million, Egale budgeted the majority of funds — more than $1.1 million — for executives “working directly on the project.” Additional costs included $6,050 for cameras, $2,800 for laptops, $13,330 for travel, $43,400 in speaker fees and $30,500 for promotional expenses.The proposal framed “home” in broad terms, suggesting it could include “physical spaces, memories and maybe even familiar sights or smells,” and instructed participants to photograph environments where they sleep, eat or spend time.Project materials stated the exhibition would help “identify the needs and challenges” of sexual minority veterans facing homelessness and support advocacy efforts based on the findings.Federal housing officials did not explain in the records how the project aligned with the government’s stated goal of reducing chronic homelessness in Canada by 50% by 2028.Separate federal data estimates there are approximately 2,000 veterans experiencing homelessness nationwide. Statistics Canada has reported that roughly 4% of Canadians identify as gay or lesbian, while about 0.24% identify as transgender or non-binary, though no precise figures exist for those populations within the homeless veteran community.
