Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons is bringing provincial NDP housing critic David Eby to Sechelt for a town hall meeting Aug. 29.
“Issues around home affordability and availability have been becoming more prominent, obviously,” Simons said. “In part because of recent changes in the real estate market [on the Sunshine Coast] that have been influenced by the Lower Mainland, and by all of the variables that have had an impact on the Lower Mainland. We just have them to different degrees on the Sunshine Coast.”
Simons has also invited others, including former Gibsons councillor Lee Ann Johnson, whose professional background includes work on housing, Michael Goldberg, formerly of the First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, and representatives from the industry.
Matt Thomson, coordinator of the Sunshine Coast Housing Committee, is also going to be speaking at the town hall. He said affordability for buyers has been a concern for a while, and adding to that is a sharp drop in vacancies, and a corresponding increase in cost, for renters because of the hot market of recent months.
“It’s a lot harder to get into the market if you’re looking to buy than it was a year ago, and that’s put a real crunch on the rental market as well, and that’s a real concern for us,” said Thomson.
The committee is working with the Town of Gibsons on a pilot project to use Town-owned land to build rental units.
Simons said homelessness on the Sunshine Coast has come into sharp focus over the past year, and he expects those concerns to be raised at the town hall.
So does Thomson, who also works with the Homelessness Advisory Council. He said they hope to be able to open the seasonal shelter in October this year, while they continue working with BC Housing on long-term strategies.
The NDP has already come out against the province’s 15 per cent foreign buyer tax on real estate sales in Metro Vancouver and, according to Simons, the NDP is still drafting its detailed housing policy, and events like the one on Monday are going to be part of that work.
“I think it’s a good time for the party to hear the ideas that are being put forward as we formulate our plans,” he said. “Clearly there will be discussions around putting pressure on the federal government to get funding for capital expenditures for increasing the housing stock.”
Thomson said he hopes people will come to the town hall ready to share their stories about the area’s housing situation, ask questions about what’s happening at the provincial level, and talk about how they can help local efforts to create new housing options on the Coast.
Monday’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Sechelt Indian Band Hall.
