Thursday, January 24, 2019 ~ NANAIMO
~ West Shore Voice News
Premier John Horgan and BC NDP by-election candidate Sheila Malcolmson will be holding a roundtable discussion with community members about housing affordability. The gathering will be held on Friday, January 25 at 285 Pine Street in Nanaimo.
The BC NDP position on housing: “We’ve started to see housing prices level out, and experts say it’s the government’s action on housing that’s making things more affordable. John Horgan’s government announced the largest investment in affordable housing in BC’s history – $7 billion over 10 years – to build 114,000 affordable homes. Our new community housing fund is creating homes for growing families, people on low-to-moderate incomes, and seniors,” it was stated online January 10.
“Communities all over the province are seeing the benefits,” say the BC NDP. “In Nanaimo, for example, construction is already underway on 159 new affordable units for seniors – who may also benefit from rent supplements.”
Meanwhile, BC Liberal by-election candidate for Nanaimo, Tony Harris, said earlier this week in a news release: “Every young person that is prepared to work hard should be able to aspire toward home ownership, and as this dream gets harder and harder for many Nanaimoites, we can all agree it needs to be fixed.”
Harris says that “the current government believes more and higher taxes will make housing more affordable”. He says that won’t work. “What Nanaimo needs is more supply, particularly multi-family rental units and a wider range of attainable housing options for all income levels.”
Harris feels that a challenge to the city’s Mayor and Council to cut red tape, speed up the building permit process, and identify and up-zone properties will speed up the supply of housing.
There are six candidates on the ballot for the January 30, 2019 by-election representing six registered political parties:
• Justin Greenwood
Conservative
• Tony Harris
BC Liberal Party
• Sheila Malcolmson
BC NDP
• Michele Ney
BC Green Party
• Robin Mark Richardson
The Vancouver Island Party
• Bill Walker
Libertarian
Residents of the Nanaimo electoral district are eligible to vote in the by-election if they are:
• 18 or older on January 30, 2019,
• a Canadian citizen, and
• a resident of British Columbia since July 29, 2018.
General Voting Day is Wednesday, January 30. Advance voting will be available from Tuesday, January 22 to Sunday, January 27. Eligible voters can also vote at the Nanaimo district electoral office from now until 4 p.m. on January 30, or by mail.
For more information, including a complete list of advance and general voting places, visit elections.bc.ca/nan-byelection
Other articles:
Premier Horgan calls Nanaimo By-Election