Adriane Carr wants social housing promises from BC parties

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – We’re two months away from the provincial election, and a Vancouver city councillor says social housing should be an issue that’s front and centre on the campaign trail.

Adriane Carr says whichever party forms government needs to make Metro Vancouver’s homeless a major priority.

“The time of a provincial election, I’ve always thought, is a time to raise an issue and to seek commitments,” she tells News1130. “Social and supportive housing is really the kind of housing that is essential for those who are in the deepest and direst of needs.”

Carr says a report that went to council last month suggests the city needs more than 340 units of supportive housing and 828 units of social housing if Vancouver is going to meet the 2012-2014 targets set out in its Housing and Homelessness Strategy.

Darryl, who spent the last 2.5 years living in and out of shelters in Vancouver, says those supportive units aren’t nice places to stay.

“It’s like being in jail,” he tells us.

“It’s a holding cell. It’s a weigh station for people. It’s not a home for them. There are cockroaches and some of these rooms aren’t bigger than a closet.”

Carr’s request comes after Metro Vancouver received a report showing there are half as many places to rent in the region for $750 or less than there were in 2007.

Former Vancouver city planner Brent Toderian says the most important thing the region can do to address housing affordability is create new units, but he points out that’s only part of the solution to a complex problem.

“Supply is a big part of it, especially in a city like ours that has strong demand,” explains Toderian. “But it’s also about being an affordable city and not just affordable housing. It’s keeping your energy costs part of the equation, certainly your transportation costs and even the income side of the affordability picture. We have to produce enough high-paying jobs within the city.

At tomorrow’s meeting, Carr will ask the mayor to write a letter to BC’s four political parties to find out where they stand on social housing.

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