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LETTER: Province, feds need to take action on housing crisis

Dear Editor : On the evening of Oct. 2, both North Vancouver councils made an important decision to respond to the growing housing affordability crisis facing people of low-to-moderate household incomes in the two municipalities.
Housing

Dear Editor:

On the evening of Oct. 2, both North Vancouver councils made an important decision to respond to the growing housing affordability crisis facing people of low-to-moderate household incomes in the two municipalities.

At the City of North Vancouver, council voted 7-0 to send to staff a proposal by Coun. Clark that all multi-family housing developments specify that 20 per cent of the units be pegged at below-market rates. Currently, the City’s Housing Action Plan calls for 10 per cent. This is a bold move, one that staff may say is too costly, one that may push developers away from rental to condos, and propose instead something less than 20. Council discussion revealed some feeling that perhaps the city has been settling for too little in its negotiations with developers.

Meanwhile, at the District of North Vancouver, council voted (also 7-0) to ask their staff to develop a plan to engage non-profit partners towards the creation of a family shelter and supported housing project in the district, on district-owned land. This is likewise a timely move, responding to the recent release of a report by the North Shore Homelessness Task Force (September 2017), which details how the existing emergency bed inventory on the North Shore is not meeting the growing demand.

Both municipalities have long recognized the increasing need to keep vulnerable citizens from slipping into poverty and homelessness, in a time when rents continue to rise and vacancies continue to shrink. The causes of this dire situation are many, deep, and wide, and in Canada go back many years. But, municipalities have limited tools, unlike the two senior governments who have had broader fiscal powers and resources. Perhaps on the near horizon, we may now be seeing some bold moves by these governments.

Closer to home, kudos to the city and district who are attempting to respond to a growing, critical part of the housing crisis.

Don Peters
Chairman, Community Housing Action Committee

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