Issues & Community Blog - Andrew Weaver: A Climate for Hope - Page 164

British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate Isobel MacKenzie is hosting a senior’s public town hall meeting in Oak Bay on March 9, 2015 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The purpose of the event is to engage seniors in a conversation about improving the lives of BC seniors. The Seniors Advocate wants to hear from seniors and their families who live in the Oak Bay, Saanich, Esquimalt and Greater Victoria areas about what is working and not working for seniors in our communities.

The event will be co-hosted by the Oak Bay Seniors Activity Association and it will be held in the Garry Oak Room at Monterey Centre, located at 1442 Monterey Avenue in Oak Bay.

The Office of the Seniors Advocate lists upcoming events on their website and their office can also be contacted by phoning Toll-free 1-877-952-3181 (or 250-952-3181 in Victoria) if you have questions or comments.

Further details are available in the town hall event poster.

Over the course of the last two days, MLAs have been debating the Speech from the Throne. As I noted on Tuesday after the 4th session of the 40th parliament of the Province of British Columbia was opened, I am of the view that despite mounting challenges facing families in British Columbia, the Throne Speech advanced no new ideas about how to grow the economy or help those who are most in need. I will be offering my response in the Legislature on Monday.

Today, Selina Robinson NDP MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville moved an amendment to the throne speech:

[Be it resolved that the motion “We, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, in session assembled, beg leave to thank Your Honour for the gracious Speech which Your Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present session,” be amended by adding the following:

“and that the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia regrets that the families in the province have seen their wages fall as they pay more for their basic services, while the government gives a break to the highest two per cent of income earners; regrets that the government has failed to meet its commitment that all British Columbians will have access to a general practitioner by 2015; regrets that seniors still do not have flexible options for home care or assisted living; regrets that young people in the province face uncertain job prospects as the government has bet on one sector rather than working with businesses and workers across B.C. to reach their potential; and regrets that the government will not fulfill its commitment for at least one LNG pipeline and terminal online in B.C. by 2015.”]

I subsequently rose to table a sub-amendment.

[To sub-amend the amendment by striking out the word “period” after 2015 and inserting the words “and recognizes that leadership in government requires a commitment to seek out and incorporate ideas from others, while leadership in opposition requires a commitment to offering solutions, and hence calls on this House to collaborate on the development of a new vision for British Columbia that builds on the good ideas of all members, regardless of their party affiliation.”]

Prior to moving my sub-amendment I offered the following preamble:

The role of government is to offer British Columbians a vision. The role of opposition, if they do not like the vision government is offering, is to offer a counter-vision. Unfortunately, the amendment before us does not offer a counter-vision. All it does is simply hurl abuse, hurl negativity on the government’s vision.

Now, I agree with what was said in the actual amendment. That is, I agree that the government did promise to give every British Columbian a general practitioner by 2015. In fact, in Victoria, the region I am in, there is not a single general practitioner accepting new patients south of Mill Bay. That’s more than 350,000 people.

I agree that seniors do not have flexible options for home care. I agree that young people in the province face uncertain job prospects, in particular in light of the fact that we’re re-engineering our education system for a hypothetical industry that I’ve been saying for two years now — not one, not two, actually more than two years now — is not supported by the economic reality that the world is oversupplied with natural gas and ours is expensive.

There are many other reasons that I agree with the amendment. However, it is our responsibility as opposition, when we don’t agree with government’s vision, to offer a vision that we could hang our hats on.

Next week, I hope to offer British Columbians such a vision. And I look forward to voting in favour of both the amendment and sub-amendment.

Today in the legislature I was up during Question Period. I took the opportunity to question government on their strategy for affordable housing. The Minister of Finance recently announced that there’s more than a $444 million surplus in this past year’s budget. I attempted to provide a compelling case to government that the costs of inaction are greater than the costs of action. In particular I pointed out that using the one-time budget surplus to make capital investments in housing would reduce ongoing operating commitments in health, social and justice systems.

While the Minister’s response to my initial question was certainly not what I was hoping for, I was very pleased with his response to my supplemental question. Below is the transcript of our exchange:

QUESTION

Victoria’s Coalition to End Homelessness estimates that it costs about $25,500 a year to maintain a shelter bed in the capital regional district. On the other hand, the cost to run new supportive housing is only about $16,700 per unit per year. The cost of providing additional rental supplements, including support, is even lower, at $6,800 per unit annually.

The evidence is clear. Since Utah launched its homelessness reduction strategy, a strategy that involved — you guessed it — giving homes to the homeless, they’ve reduced chronic homelessness by 72 percent, and they’ve saved an average of $8,000 per person in health, social and justice system costs.

The same is true elsewhere. For example, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness calculated that for each dollar spent on housing and supports for the chronically homeless, about $2 in savings is found in health, social and justice services.

The Minister of Finance recently announced that there’s more than a $444 million surplus in this past year’s budget.

My question to the Minister Responsible for Housing is this. Will the government commit to using the one-time budget surplus to make capital investments in housing in order to reduce ongoing operating commitments in health, social and justice systems?

RESPONSE

Hon. R. Coleman: Thanks to the member opposite for the question. I’m always happy to get up and actually talk about housing in this House, which is seldom, because we don’t usually ask these questions. The fact of the matter is that in British Columbia we are home to the most successful housing strategy in Canadian history, right here in British Columbia.

In the last five years alone over 6,000 people that were formerly homeless in this province are no longer homeless because of the outreach workers, the money that’s been invested, and the people being connected to housing and supports by our people across the province.

We’ve purchased over 50 buildings across the province of B.C. and renovated for housing and have also spent over half a billion dollars, just in the last couple of years, in building additional housing supports for people. In addition to that we also, today, in total, have 100,000 households in British Columbia that receive some form of support in their housing in British Columbia.

There are, today, 27,000-plus families in households receiving rent assistance where they live, in communities across British Columbia. The budget for housing has tripled in the last number of years simply because of the commitment of this government to the success of dealing with homelessness, mental health and addiction.

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION

I recognize that this is not answer period, but my question was not about what the government has done. My question is about what the government will do in the future.

The reality is that recent analysis showed the least affordable cities in the world were Hong Kong and Vancouver. In fact, in the top five in Canada, four of them were in B.C.: Victoria, Kelowna, Fraser Valley, Vancouver. They’re all in the top five. Toronto is the only one that wasn’t from BC.

The reality is that if you’re living on income assistance, you are getting a total of $375 as your housing allowance, whereas the average person on income assistance is paying $501 in Victoria. If a landlord were to actually follow the rental tenancy office allowable rents, rents could have increased 30 percent since 2007, the time that this rental income assistance has remained fixed from.

The evidence is very clear. The costs of inaction are simply greater than the costs of action.

I reiterate my question. When will the government commit to (a) increasing that shelter allowance and dealing with British Columbia’s homelessness problem, and (b) providing more affordable housing to actually deal with this problem, which is a tax on our social, health and other justice systems?

RESPONSE

Hon. R. Coleman: To the member opposite, the B.C. Housing budget for capital is actually pretty good for the next number of fiscal years. It has continuously been put in the three-year fiscal plan as we sit down and work with communities like Victoria, identify sites like we have in Victoria for three buildings that we’ve recently done and other buildings we’ve bought and renovated, partnerships that we do with the non-profit sector in order to be able to connect that sector in to being there for the people whose housing they’re going to operate.

I’m happy actually…. To the member opposite, if you want to come and have a visit, we can actually explore some of your ideas. One thing I do know, when we wrote the housing strategy in 2005 — which is, by the way, again the most successful one in this country — we opened it up to being open to ideas.

The whole idea around it was that if we actually saw something in Portland or Utah or somewhere else and we thought it could work here in British Columbia, we were not disinclined at all, in our minds, to steal a good idea that might help the citizens of this province. That’s why the housing ministry, B.C. Housing, has such a dynamic mandate, in order to go out and look for their solutions on behalf of B.C. citizens.

Today, the 4th session of the 40th parliament of the Province of British Columbia was opened with a Speech from the Throne. The Speech from the Throne is government’s opportunity to lay out its vision and plan for the coming year. However, today’s throne speech reveals a government short of ideas and content to coast while British Columbians continue to struggle with issues we can begin solving today.

Despite mounting challenges facing families in British Columbia, the Throne Speech advanced no new ideas about how to grow the economy or help those who are most in need.

I have spent much of the last year identifying problems and bringing forward potential solutions for government’s consideration. If they are running short on ideas, then they should feel free to borrow some of mine. Whether it’s rolling MSP premiums into our progressive tax system, developing a poverty reduction plan and a housing first strategy,  or leveraging our renewable resources to attract new economic opportunities, there are plenty of things this government could and should be doing right now to actively strengthen and diversify our province.

Without fail, whenever an idea surfaces about how our government could address a pressing social or environmental issue, they trot out rhetoric about how the best way to address it is to grow our economy. The government has been saying for years that the economy is growing. Yet we are still waiting for them to start offering solutions to the crises in funding for education, health care and social services.

Within the next week, I will speak to the Legislature, offering my response to the government’s Throne Speech. In doing so, I will offer a clear plan for how British Columbia can develop a 21st century economy – one that prioritizes and benefits the needs of British Columbians.

As part of our series on poverty and homelessness we asked people to consider sharing a story about their experiences. Sharing these stories serves as a reminder that poverty and homelessness are not a choice. It’s important for us to end the stigma and stereotypes that are too often associated with these issues. Each of us has followed a different path from the past to the present. Yet some of our paths have been rockier than others.

This week we are pleased to offer the sixth of these stories. We are grateful to the Our Place Society for providing it to us. Our Place provides an array of services and programs to Greater Victoria’s most vulnerable populations. Serving over 58,000 meals in October alone. Our place has experienced a 62% growth in demand for meals with their new extended winter hours.

Al’s Story

When you first meet Al, you are taken in by his eyes: clear, strong and focused. But those eyes also contain a vulnerability that tells you he is someone who has lived rough, faced difficult decisions, and known pain.

Born and raised in Victoria, Al’s life was turned upside down 11 years ago when he lost his job as a security guard. He admits that he shares responsibility for the loss as, “I was stubborn. They wanted rid of me and I gave them the excuse.”

Unable to find a new job, combined with personal troubles at home, Al ended up on the street. A short time later, his brother, Tom, lost both his job and the place where he was living, and joined Al in the vacant doorways of downtown Victoria.

“I couldn’t stay in the shelters,” says Al. “The snoring and stench of feet was too much. I’d rather sleep on the street.”

Al and his brother staked a nightly claim in a spot with an overhanging roof that helped shield them from the snow and rain.

“It has its ups and downs,” says Al. “Eighty to ninety percent of the people you meet are good, but every day has its challenges.”

One of those challenges was finding a safe place to stash his sleeping bag and extra clothes. “No matter how well you hid it, someone always sniffed it out and stole it,” he says.

The one bright spot in Al’s day was Our Place. “I’d show up every morning for breakfast,” he says. “It was the first place I turned to when I had nowhere else to go.”

The one thing that Al always had going for him was his work ethic. “I don’t ask anyone for anything,” says Al. “I would get up at six in the morning to go bottling, and was usually on my bike until ten at night. Living on the street is boring. You have to keep busy.”

Collecting bottles around Victoria also gave Al a sense of purpose as neighbourhood residents came to know his schedule, and would look out for him hauling bottles and cans on his bicycle.

“Sometimes I would be so loaded down with bottles that people would stop to take my picture,” Al says with a minimal grin. “I even got a police escort to the bottle depot once after a cop saw me piled high with 780 bottles. It was just two blocks, but I’ll always remember that.”

Another memory he’ll cherish is the generosity of some of the friends he made on the route.

“One family gave me a new sleeping bag when they heard mine got stolen,” he says. “Another stuck an envelope with forty-five bucks inside into their recycling bin at Christmas. I tried to return it, but they insisted I keep it.”

Al enjoyed bottling because it allowed him to be his own boss, which was a better fit for his personality. But Al also knew he needed to get his life back on track.

A father of two, who lost his own father at 14, Al wanted a more stable life. That goal became even more important when he took on responsibility for his two young grandchildren.

Always keeping busy, Al was spending more time at Our Place by volunteering in the hygiene area and cleaning up the courtyard. So when the Manager of Housing, John Sherratt, heard Al was ready to make a change, he suggested Al apply through the Coordinated Access to Supportive Housing (CASH) program for supportive housing.

Shortly after moving into one of our 45 transitional units, Al applied and was hired for a custodial position at Our Place, where he has been working part-time for the last four months.

“It’s really helped my self-esteem,” says Al. “And got my morals back on track.”

Having lived on the street for over a decade, Al knows he still has a way to go before he can return to sustainable, independent living. But the staff at Our Place is there to help him succeed by providing more employment skills and planning his progress to less-supported housing.

And as one look in Al’s eyes will tell you, he’s too strong to fail.