Vancouver’s development permit board have turned down Beedie Holdings Ltd.’s application to develop a site at Keefer and Columbia in Chinatown with a controversial condo project. This was an historic victory for the community — one made possible because ordinary folks like you and I organised tirelessly to make it happen. Beedie had originally proposed…
Category: National Housing Strategy
If you can afford a mansion, you can afford more property taxes
Jean Swanson, one of the candidates in this fall’s by-election for Vancouver City Council, has recently proposed a mansion tax. Under her proposal, property taxes would be tiered in much the same way that income tax is tiered — the lower your property value, the lower your property tax rate would be. In making her…
City Hall delays; The most vulnerable pay
In my May 26 blog, I forcefully advocated a cost-effective solution for when the City of Vancouver is faced with a slum landlord providing unsafe accommodations to its tenants. The solution: that the City perform all necessary repairs, then simply charge the owner for this cost by placing a lien on the property at the…
The nightmare of SRO conditions can be solved in an instant
With income assistance rates frozen for over 10 years now, welfare recipients have a very small amount available for rent. With the province of BC providing a single person on welfare with only $610 a month, SRO landlords are very limited in what they can charge for rent. So they use the low rental revenue…
A silver lining to Victoria’s tent city
Many of us concerned about the crisis of homelessness have watched with interest as homeless people in Victoria started living on the lawn in front of the courthouse last year. As their numbers grew, so did the pressure on the provincial government to offer meaningful solutions — not just overnight shelters but real accommodations. In…
The only national housing strategy stands firmly on Green ground
The federal election is now down to the wire. It is time for those of us who have not yet made up our minds on who to vote for to focus on the issues that are the most important to us. We need to take a look at where the parties stand on these issues….