Opinion: It’s time for the provincial government to show stronger leadership and influence over municipalities.
People are suffering in the non-market sector, with about 9,000 homeless people across the province and growing. In the market sector, where housing and rental prices remain unaffordable for many B.C. families and the cost of living continues to spike, the situation is also very challenging.
To his credit, former housing minister and current B.C. NDP leadership frontrunner David Eby has been pushing hard in the uphill battle to pressure municipalities to improve their housing development plans. Approaches to regional housing development vary significantly between municipalities. Some are well-resourced, others are bare bones. Some are pro-development, others far less so.
Policy levers to improve housing supply are the most effective measures in a government’s toolkit for improving housing affordability. Self-interested NIMBY perspectives should be listened to with caution during community engagement when a municipality is setting a community plan.Article content
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