Housing
Monady, February 26, 2007

Housing

R. Cantelon: I rise today to talk about homelessness, continuing on the conversation.

The causes of homelessness have no simple descriptions and no easy answers. I think we can agree on that. It's a perplexing problem to all levels of government, particularly in these times of rapid job growth and prosperity. It is especially disconcerting that many of these persons are young.

Many of the young and not so young are afflicted with mental issues. All too often drugs and alcohol are involved, as well, in vicious variations of multiple dependency and self-medication. Some of these young people have left foster homes or stressful and sometimes abusive parental relationships. Others have become despairing or discouraged in what in another era, the '30s, would have been called people who are "down on their luck." It is really a combination of all of the above and other factors.

All of this is an all-too-familiar scenario that we see played out on our city streets in British Columbia — cities big and small from one end of the province to the other. This is a societal problem in the broadest sense. It can not be solved by throwing money at it. Building thousands of housing units is not financially practical today, nor will it solve the underlying problems.

If this shame is to be solved, it will take the will and commitment of all levels of government. More than that, solving this crisis will take the involvement of the citizens of this wealthy province.

How many members of this chamber have been approached by their constituents and supporters who express the urgent concern that action must be taken? I know I have, on several occasions. It is a call to leadership that we must respond to on both sides of this House.

Of course, this presents opportunities for members of both sides of this House to take political advantage and potshots about the lack of action by the party opposite to come to grips with this problem. Such criticism would likely be valid since the crisis continues and has continued under several administrations. It would be of little concern to our citizens and no comfort to those on the street that neither party, when in power, has found a permanent or effective solution.

There have been hopeful and promising initiatives. Last Friday it was my privilege to announce this government's support of such a local initiative. It began with the Nanaimo Home Builders Association, led by Mr. Doug Bromage, approaching the city council of Nanaimo with an idea of building some affordable housing. Yes, those often maligned builders and developers wanted to put something back into the community.

Doug Bromage's company, InSight Development, is one of the most successful land developers and condominium builders in Nanaimo. Their idea and, indeed, their offer was to build, at the entire expense of the Nanaimo Home Builders Association, some affordable housing units if the city would make available some city-owned property on which to build the project.

The initial scope of the project was quite modest. The homebuilders would build four units or so, and if other support could be available, it could perhaps be doubled to eight units, maybe more.

I was able to point out some property that I was aware of from my real estate days that had been acquired by the city for a road widening. John Horn, the city of Nanaimo social planning manager, ran with the idea, and city council committed to granting a nominal lease, waiving half the DCCs and some of the other application fees.

At the groundbreaking of the expanded Salvation Army shelter, I was able to connect John with B.C. Housing and the Minister of Forests and Range and Housing. The reaction from both these men was positive and encouraging. John Horn took advantage of the proposal call that went out last fall for 450 units from the ministry.

The submission was successful. The community received $2 million in mortgage financing, sufficient to build not four but 20 units of affordable housing. The ministry has committed ongoing support to make the mortgage payments and to provide support to the Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society to manage the property and to ensure that those who need it most and those for whom it will make the biggest difference will have access to these new units.

The support component is a key element in this successful proposal, as it must be with many of these types of houses. Individuals making a brave step forward in their lives need continuing support to sustain them in that choice they have made to start a new life.

Across the province the program was dramatically successful, capitalizing on a variety of innovative proposals. The ministry was able to blow away the targeted 450 units and deliver 758 housing units across the province.

Some will say that 20 units for Nanaimo is not nearly enough. After all, didn't the recent survey show that the homeless count was 300 for Nanaimo? It's a huge increase from just the hundred a couple of years ago. Indeed, it is certainly true that 20 represents a start, but it's a good start, not so much in the number but in the collaboration and the promise of the potential that that collaboration portends.

I'm not suggesting here that this approach will itself solve all our homelessness on the streets. What it shows, as I'm sure many of the proposals of the 758 successful proponents did, is that this is everyone's responsibility. These successes are a clear signal that communities and their citizens are ready to act. It is now our responsibility in the Legislative Assembly to provide programs that deliver incentive for these initiatives.

There will still, I'm sure, be barbs back and forth in this House, but among these non-productive exchanges let us try to put forth and recognize good ideas when we hear them. We will on this side of the House use and call our own any useful suggestions.

Not long ago I hurried to the bus stop on Georgia in Vancouver to catch the express bus to Horseshoe Bay. When I got there, I didn't know when the next bus was and if I would get to Horseshoe Bay on time to make my ferry connection. A young man, recognizing my dilemma, came up to me with a schedule. I thanked him, and then he asked me for a loonie — to catch a bus, he said. So I gave him a task. I said I would give him a toonie and told him I needed a quarter out of it, and he could keep the rest.

His enthusiasm in approaching the crowd at the bus stop was impressive. He returned with the quarter, so I gave him a ten-spot. He was incredulous. He said: "Are you sure about this?" Then we talked. He was homeless, and because he had no address, he could not get a job. Because he could not get a job, he could not get an apartment. I gave him my card and suggested he get in touch with my office. I should have given him the number for the member for Vancouver-Burrard. That would have given him a real chance.

While we talk about street people as though it were a new class of people, it is not. The homeless are an aggregation of individuals with individual problems that require personal and individual attention. We have to reach out corporately, collectively and individually. How often do we walk by, professing to care but not getting involved, as though these people were not members of the same human race?

I began by saying that there are no simple answers. They would have been done already. The example from Nanaimo that I gave speaks more of hope and generosity.
© 2007 Government Caucus of British Columbia. All Rights Reserved.