Author and Assistant Professor of criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Erin Dej, has spent years working at the intersection of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. 

In her new book, A Complex Exile: Homelessness and Social Exclusion in Canada, Dej explores how a "homelessness industrial complex" has shifted public policy from managing to preventing and ending homelessness. In response, this shift puts the onus on individuals to "fix" themselves in order to secure housing and re-enter mainstream society. This has now severely stunted our collective ability to discuss structural and systemic drivers of homelessness such as income inequality, discrimination, and housing affordability.

Erin Dej discusses A Complex Exile with Leilani Farha, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing and Global Director of The Shift.

About this event's guests:

Erin Dej
Leilani Farha

This event is part of our On Civil Society series.

Generously supported in part by Chris M. Reid

JOIN US FOR THE CIVIL FORUM BEFORE THIS EVENT

Civil Forum: A Complex Exile - Homelessness in Canada

This event has a Civil Forum that will begin at 6:00 and run until 6:30 pm, just prior to the main event (which begins at 7 pm). Note that the Civil Forum: A Complex Exile - Homelessness in Canada is a separate event and requires a separate registration from the main event.

In this Civil Forum, our moderator will speak directly to you, the audience, providing background and context relating to the issues that are part of Erin Dej’s book, A Complex Exile. Additionally, your opinions, thoughts and experiences will be a critical part of engaging with the topic and understanding the background before you attend the main event. Come to participate, to listen and learn, come to teach other audience members about your own experience, education or expertise on the topic.

This Civil Forum is drop-in but the video presentation will begin at 6 pm. There will be a 30 minute break between the end of this Civil Forum and the start of the main event at 7 pm.

To register for the Civil Forum: A Complex Exile - Homelessness in Canada, click here.

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Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca

Erin Dej: A Complex Exile - Homelessness and Social Exclusion in Canada