For years, Burnaby residents have been hearing the same message from their city leaders.
In a nutshell, it goes something like this: “We’d love to do more to help solve the housing crisis, but, dudes, our hands are tied. We’re only a municipal government. We can’t do what the province and the feds can do. If only they’d come to the table, we’d be able to solve this problem.”
Guess what?
The unthinkable has happened. The City of Burnaby finally has not one but two senior levels of government who are getting in on the housing game.
First it was John Horgan leading the NDP into power and effectively eliminating “but Christy Clark” as an excuse for, well, just about everything.
Now, with the federal Liberals’ recently announced $40-billion national housing strategy, things just got real for everyone who’s been waiting for the magical unicorn to arrive.
Selina Robinson, B.C.’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, says the province is ready to partner with the federal government to improve housing affordability and tackle homelessness. Which means the ball has landed, fair and square, in the City of Burnaby’s court.
The question remains what Mayor Derek Corrigan and council plan to do with it.
Here’s hoping the city is willing to step up in a genuine spirit of cooperation and partnership – as it did with the recent announcement of a new 14-storey non-market rental apartment in Metrotown, a partnership between the New Vista Society, B.C. Housing and Thind Properties Ltd.
If the city is, in fact, actually willing to be a player in this whole issue, who knows what could happen? Burnaby residents might actually benefit from new co-operative housing, new affordable units for seniors and new homes for people with developmental disabilities.
No, of course, Burnaby cannot single-handedly solve the housing crisis.
But it’s run out of reasons not to try just a little bit harder to find solutions that work – instead of pointing fingers at Victoria and Ottawa to keep deflecting blame.
Everyone has a right to housing. Let’s hope our leaders – at all levels – are willing to work together to provide it.
