So I just read this piece from our BC provincial government about housing initiatives!
“B.C. Premier David Eby says the private market can’t solve the province’s housing crisis, as his government launches an almost $3 billion public housing program to build more affordable rental units for middle-income earners.”
For starters, “middle income earners”??? What about those who are in the low-income bracket?! Where are they supposed to live?! I agree that rents are far too high these days, but to think that those earning more than $40k/yr need help paying rent too. . . ok. . . sort of. . . assuming they have a higher-end lifestyle to support than the basics and still want to rent when lowering that lifestyle might let them buy and put money into their own hole in the ground instead. . . but all this focus on middle income earners. . . they could make housing affordable for both them AND the low-income earners if they focused on rental affordability for those on low-income!
“The New Democrat government says the BC Builds program will target land owned by governments, community and non-profits and provide low-cost financing to fast-track rental property developments on underutilized lands in communities across B.C.”
Secondly. . . “underutilised land” . . . I know parking lots out there, where they sit empty for months on end, but put a major event in the building that built the parking lot and suddenly it’s so full there isn’t room to park everyone! Put other buildings on those lots, and THEN where will people park for those big events?! Oh right. . . they are trying to push people out of their vehicles and into mass transit, which often doesn’t run on workable schedules for these events!!! Hmmm. . . .
“… the private market can’t solve the province’s housing crisis”
“… the strategy stands in contrast to the “predictable” outcomes when government exited the housing market, “speculators ran wild” and prices and rents rose.”
Thirdly. . .So our choices are greed justified by landlords wanting renters to foot the mortgage for them, (erroneously calling rental suites “mortgage helpers” as a result! Listen! If you want ME to pay YOUR mortgage, MY name better be on the purchase papers and YOU are my renter!), or government-controlled housing. . .
As it is right now, everyone knows that it isn’t wise to buy or rent on native land, because you can be kicked off that land at any time without any reason. I’ve seen news stories right here in the Central Okanagan where they booted off other natives, simply because they weren’t indigenous to the local tribe! They were from Ontario, married a local native, had kids with them who grew up and moved back to Ontario. When the spouse from the local band died, the married-in spouse got evicted from the home they had bought and renovated! If they will do that to their own people, they will and have done that to those who are not of native origin.
Now. . . extrapolate that style of behaviour to the government, particularly in the new cancel culture we live in where if you say what they deem to be mis or disinformation or speak out against what they are doing, you can be liable for thought crimes, or even pre-crimes if Trudeau ever gets his way with THAT idea! So you move into government housing, speak out against the government and now you’re out of a home!
What we need is for people to stop buying homes they can’t afford that they expect renters to pay for. We need people buying what they CAN afford, not demanding the renter pays the mortgage, and charging liveable rates that low-income people who can’t buy homes, can afford on a monthly basis.
Currently, non-profits who handle subsidized housing demand that you don’t have any pets, among the list of other demands you have to meet before they put you on a 2 – 5 year wait list. The idea apparently presents that if you can afford a pet, why are you looking for subsidized housing? Do they know how many middle income earners have pets, perhaps more than one pet??? Two cats and/or two dogs is common among middle income earners! They might also have birds and fish too. Another stipulation often involves parking in these subsidized zones. Are they not aware that most middle income families have at least two vehicles, sometimes three or more if the kids are of driving age too? They don’t just have vehicles to commute to and from work, school or the store, but they might have toys as well such as ATV’s, motorbikes, boats, and other toys reminiscent of the middle class lifestyle that need somewhere to be parked and maintained. A low-income household might have one or two vehicles, and in an effort to save on fuel, one might be a motorbike or scooter. They generally don’t have all the toys needing extra space, but if two people in the home are working minimum wage jobs trying to make ends meet where buses don’t run very well, they will have two vehicles to get to those jobs.
I don’t foresee government-run housing being any better than subsidized housing, but I can easily see it being worse. Yes there are greedy people wanting to fleece the public for as much as they can get out of the rental market, and yes that is adding to the homeless population as people who used to be able to pay the bills, no longer can due to rising costs across the board while their job stays the same or even cuts back on them. But the way I’ve seen the government handle this in the past, versus how things are going into the future, I see this as another way to control the population.
EDIT April 5, 2024
An example of this kind of behaviour crossed my desk as I was scanning CTV News. The tone of the article was intended to disparage the current sitting Saskatchewan government, but the behaviour would have been there regardless of which party had the ruling majority.
A Regina father and his five children have been left homeless after being evicted from a government housing unit on Wednesday after several noise complaints.
With children involved, the Saskatchewan opposition NDP says the situation should have been handled differently after the locks on the home were changed and the family was shutout of the house.
Nepinak said the children’s father called Saskatchewan Income Support first and then Regina Housing, which directed him back to income support.
“So this family did come to our office for assistance. They were evicted from Regina Housing. They say it was due to some noise complaints. They weren’t behind on rent. They weren’t behind on utilities and we were pretty shocked,” NDP MLA Meara Conway said.
A similar incident that took place with a Regina senior who suddenly found herself homeless(opens in a new tab) resulted in the province intervening and providing supports.
“This is a pattern that we’re seeing with a lack of real basic stuff from this government being able to provide housing to seniors, to children. I mean it’s very concerning,” Conway said.
The NDP office “very helpfully” came to the rescue of this “poor family” that the sitting government somehow couldn’t accommodate.
Here in BC, the ruling party IS the NDP who as mentioned earlier in this article, is trying to set up government-run housing!!!
end edit
If at all possible, do your absolute best to avoid ever having to live in government-run projects!!! (anyone from or who knows of certain areas of NYC will understand the term I just used)
