Michael Shapcott

Michael Shapcott is a Canadian social activist and academic best known for his work on housing and anti-poverty issues in Toronto.

Trained as a lawyer, Shapcott came to public attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s for his work in the "Breads Not Circuses" coalition which argued that the money being spent on Toronto's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics could be better spent on housing. His detractors vilified him for helping compromise the city's bid for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Shapcott is a founding member of the National Housing and Homelessness Network and the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee named after the belief that homelessness and poverty in Toronto has reached disaster levels.

Currently, he is the senior fellow in residence for public policy at the Wellesley Institute (WI). WI is a non-profit organisation devoted to research and analysis of public policy related to social determinants of urban health, including income distribution, housing and homelessness, and social exclusion.

He was previously co-ordinator of the Community/University Research Partnerships (CURP) program at University of Toronto's Centre for Urban and Community Studies, where he promoted links between academic research and social justice activism.

Prior to that, he was manager of government relations and communications at the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (Ontario Region). From 1990 to 1993, he co-ordinated the Rupert Pilot Project, a community development project to provide housing and services for 525 rooming house tenants.

Earlier in his adult life, Shapcott worked as a reporter, columnist and editor for several newspapers.

Shapcott is a passionate amateur accordion player and co-host of a monthly gathering of Toronto accordionists.

Shapcott entered electoral politics by running as the New Democratic Party's candidate in Toronto Centre in the 2004 federal election placing second to Liberal incumbent Bill Graham.

He made his second attempt in the same riding in the 2006 federal election, increasing the NDP vote to its highest level ever in the riding.