October 1, 2009 - 3:03 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
It is time for the Mayor to take a national lead on afforadable housing.
The City of Vancouver’s resolution at the UBCM convention urging the provincial and federal government to develop and contribute to a National Affordable Housing Strategy received widespread support and passed easily. Long-term, sustainable funding – as in a consistent line item in both budgets – is a necessity, and it must begin with the federal government. A 2002 report on housing policy for Canada’s cities of the future by the Canadian Policy Research Network unequivocally states that “there is no escaping the need for significant direct federal expenditure.”
This is very smart positioning for Gregor Robertson, who has an opportunity to become a national spokesperson on behalf of the big city mayors towards getting the issue back onto the federal government’s radar (particularly with an election that is still very much a possibility within a couple of weeks – today’s motion of non confidence will be defeated, but Harper’s poison pill is coming, folks).
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September 25, 2009 - 11:57 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
I researched and wrote this funding proposal for the Southeast Vancouver Seniors’ Arts and Cultural Centre Society (SVSACS), which since the early 1990’s, has been petitioning all levels of government for a dedicated seniors centre on the land next to the Killarney Community Centre.
Southeast Vancouver has a glaring void of resources for seniors in comparison to the rest of the city.
As the proposal outlines, there are currently nine seniors centres in Vancouver, none of which are located in the southeast quadrant of the city.
According to Census Canada statistics specially compiled by the city’s Social Planning Department, the southeast quadrant has close to 25,000 seniors aged 65 and older, accounting for approximately one third of all seniors in Vancouver.
Park Board Chair Raj Hundal is calling for a portion of yesterday’s $70 million in unallocated infrastructure funds from the federal government to be directed towards the Killarney proposal.
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September 24, 2009 - 5:07 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Here is the complete list of funding for the infrastructure projects that were jointly announced by the BC government and the Government of Canada through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and the Communities Component under the Building Canada Fund.
With regards to Vancouver, there was the ambiguous:
“…the Government of Canada has set aside up to $70 million under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund for projects in the City of Vancouver.”
Affordable housing is an area that would maximize the impact of the Federal Government's contribution to Vancouver.
In consideration of the fact that the list includes specific projects in various communities, the Vancouver allocation definitely sounds like a complete afterthought, as if the statement was thrown in at the last minute (it couldn’t be through the efforts of City of Vancouver officials demanding inclusion in the announcement, could it?).
If I am right about the nature of this inclusion and indeed the funds are unspecified in their destination, the City of Vancouver should push to direct it towards the construction of new affordable housing – an area that the federal government largely relinquished responsibility for in the 1970’s.
This then begs the obvious question of when the BC government is going to come to the table with their matching contribution.
September 24, 2009 - 2:32 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
As this is being written, the feds are making an announcement on the breakdown of infrastructure funds being delivered to BC municipalities, and CivicScene will report back on the specifics as soon as they are available.
But a damning report on infrastructure holdups released this morning by the federal Liberals claims that:
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