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).
As mentioned last week, Vancouver’s $70 million worth of infrastructure funding from the feds was clearly an afterthought within the larger announcement, as it was left unattached to any specific projects as had been done with other municipalities.
The Conservatives have been woeful when it comes to BC infrastructure transfers, as Conservative ridings have received 325 per cent more in funding that those held by Liberals or the NDP. On average, Conservative ridings have been promised an average $9.3 million dollars, in comparison to $2.3 million for others.
Unfortuantely for Vancouver, the city’s MPs of Fry, Davies, Dosanjh, Murray and Davies are all of the wrong parties for the current sitting government.
To ensure that Vancouver is no longer taken for granted, and to advance an issue that is near and dear to Vision Vancouver’s successful electoral platform, fighting for affordable housing is the way to go. Any utterance would be couched in policy such that the Mayor was provided with a buffer from being labeled as a blind partisan, which is something that has happened in the past with other Vancouver municipal insertions into a federal election .
And since I highly doubt that Robertson is positioning himself for a safe landing in the Senate, this is a risk that is definitely worth taking.
