The editorial in last week’s Peak [“Call to action,” September 21] noted premier Christy Clark’s recent announcement of nearly $1 billion for affordable housing.
Forgive me for immediately reflecting on the fact that we are about 200 days away from a provincial election and 15 years into the life and times of a BC Liberal government in our province.
How is it that a political party that started its first term of office with a massive tax cut for people who didn’t need one and an attack on the poor has suddenly found a thoughtful, progressive bone in its body so close to a provincial election?
Full disclosure: I’ve worked in politics for two BC premiers and in the “war room” of three national election campaigns. And, no, none of my efforts were for a party with the word “Liberal” in it.
Regardless of my partisan past, I did have the rare, almost generic opportunity to see how politics works up close and personal. Yes, there are high-minded and well-intended motivations to deliver sound public policy and there are also narrow, crass, self-interested considerations that place personal, political and party survival at the fore.
We know affordable housing has become a crisis throughout much of BC in recent years, and it is certainly a crisis in Powell River. We know the crisis is driven, in large part, by a series of federal and provincial governments of the last decade-plus that have largely abandoned investing in housing for low-income Canadians.
We know those same governments have cut spending on vital social services for those of us who struggle daily for the dignity we all deserve, and we know the terrible costs of these kinds of deliberate political decisions.
We see them in the visible signs of homelessness and we see them in the rapidly rising costs incurred in the healthcare and criminal justice system as short-term political agendas drive long-term cost and pain.
What are we to do here in Powell River? We would be wise to support our local governments and non-profit leaders to rapidly navigate the bureaucracy around the funding that has been announced in the event it ends up being substantive and not simply a cynical, election-year diversion, and to quickly move forward with initiatives that require absolutely nothing from other levels of government.
The need is vast and we will not end up with too much housing or too much investment in reducing child poverty by virtue of the bold efforts of local government and organizations. Whatever they, and we, can accomplish together would be of great benefit to the community.
In the happy event that there is something meaningful in the recent spate of announcements by the premier and her colleagues, that would be most welcome.
John Young moved to Powell River one year ago and has worked in and around federal and provincial politics. He has also been a street musician and Buddhist monk.
