You can’t sit in a coffee shop for 15 minutes without hearing folks talk about housing.
If they’re a renter it’s about how lucky they were to find their place, or about how much they’re paying for it – usually too much. If they’re a homeowner it’s about how they’re now a millionaire (on paper, at least) or they’re gripping about property taxes. If they’re a young couple hoping to buy a place, they’re pondering if the parents can bankroll some or all of a downpayment on a place. Or if the grandparents are going to leave them something when they die so they can buy a place.
It’s not pretty.
It’s pitting generation against generation, foreign buyers against local buyers, and everything in between.
Parents of the younger generation have a foot in both camps. They like that their personal worth is rising but feel for their kids who can’t afford the dream of a detached house in the city. Some are inviting the kids back in to the family home so they can save enough to buy their own place.
And then there are the homeless people.
The activists trying to engage voters in this conversation are having a hard time of it. Folks, for the most part, are more concerned about what the political parties can do for them personally in regards to housing than what the parties will do for the homeless folks. It’s understandable, if a tad disappointing.
But there’s no question that housing in all its affordable and unaffordable forms is a top issue this election. So we decided to take a closer look at housing in this edition. We asked Burnaby candidates about their personal home experiences. Not surprisingly, we found city candidates represented a diverse range of housing choices or – perhaps more aptly put – housing situations.
We also asked candidates for what they thought was their number 1 priority in potential housing policies.
Some of the candidates clearly wanted to stick closely to their party script. Others were a little more adventurous. (To read all their answers, check out the Q&A responses under the Election 2017 tabs on this site - they're divided by riding.)
Have we covered every base? Certainly not. But we urge readers to pore through it all. Will it make it easier to choose your candidate? Perhaps, perhaps not.
But for those who are affected by housing issues –and aren’t we all – it should provide a good place to start.
