Monday's Rollout of the next stage of the NDP government's ambitious housing plans caught the attention of Opposition Liberal members, with the topic of Houston making for the main line of questioning as part of Tuesday morning's Question Period at the Legislature.
Among the Liberals taking the lead on the topic of housing in BC was Northwest MLA Ellis Ross from Skeena, who had some thoughts towards th need for more assistance for renters, noting for the Legislature of the challenges found in his own riding for those seeking rental accommodation over home buying.
"The NDP housing promise was to build 114,000 units — build.
Now, of the 40,000 units that the government takes credit for, 25,000 of those were already built. Some of those were built back in the '80s. Now you go further back, the '70s or '60s, maybe you can accomplish the 114,000 units that you promised back in 2017. But it wasn't just these numbers that the Premier managed to fudge.
In his housing plan yesterday, he announced a $40,000 forgivable loan for homeowners while offering only a meagre 400 dollars rental assistance for renters. That's a pitiful $1 a day for renters, an insult for families who are struggling, struggling to afford the $3,600 per month average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver.
And that's only if you qualify.
In my own community of Terrace, the average cost of rent has gone up $350 a month under the NDP. Why is the Premier blatantly discriminating between homeowners and renters and perpetuating inequality by only providing renters with $1 a day?" -- Skeena MLA Ellis Ross
For his part, the Premier responded by noting with some audacity of the approach the Liberals were taking to the topic, speaking of the recent work of the NDP towards assistance for renters and observing that the BC Liberals provided for little relief for renters during their terms as the government.
"Sometimes I feel like I've stepped through a portal into a parallel universe when I hear the members on the other side saying that they're concerned about the issues of renters.
I can't tell you, I'm sure members across this place stood in opposition again and again on the issues faced by renters, rent evictions, basic due process at the residential tenancy branch.
I mean, is the member seriously pretending that the B.C. Liberals would have ever considered a grant for renters in this province?
Are you kidding me?" -- Premier David Eby
The exchange between Mr. Ross and Premier Eby starts at the 10:42AM mark of the Question Period, beyond those comment, the entire Q and A opportunity from Tuesday provides for much more on the themes of housing in BC.
You can review it all from the video link here.
The Legislature is not the only place where Housing is the topic of the day, as we noted yesterday, a UBCM led Housing forum is currently taking place in Vancouver.
Today marks the final day of the two Housing Summit.
More notes on Housing in the Northwest can be reviewed here.
Items of interest from the Legislature can be exposed through our archive page.
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