Everyone has a right to a roof over their head.

With the local Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser having just taken place, it's time to remember that there's no good excuse for the failure of senior levels of governments to end homelessness.

Yes, there are many complex reasons why people fall through the cracks and find themselves couch surfing, or living in their cars, in shelters, or on the streets. The high cost of housing, mental health, and addictions are at the top of the list.

But the biggest reason is that no government has put its foot down and said that housing is a right. Everyone has a right to somewhere that is warm, dry, and secure when they lay down at night.

It remains criminal that neither Ottawa nor Victoria have managed to come up with solutions as homelessness across Canada and in our corner of British Columbia has ballooned over the past few decades.

There are successes, here and there. Supportive housing capacity has increased. Child poverty has been reduced across Canada, and rental supports have kept people from losing the shelter they had.

But for the most part, those efforts have amounted to treading water. They've kept things from getting worse faster than they otherwise would have.

Events like Coldest Night of the Year try to remind people what it would be like to have to spend not just one night, but every night, without stable shelter. Without a place to warm up, to use the bathroom, to shower, to keep your possessions secure. 

In the last few months, as Canadian patriotism has surged and we've faced the possibility of our nearest neighbour turning on us in a trade war, we've been re-evaluating what it means to be Canadian.

Here's one answer: Canadians can take on great and lofty goals that unite rather than divide, that build up rather than tear down.

We decided health care should be free for all. We created a modern constitution and a Charter to protect our rights. We built railways that connected our country.

Our greatest victories have never been on the battlefield. 

Our next goal, and our next accomplishment, could be ending homelessness. It's possible, and we can and should take it on, before too many more vicious winters pass.