I have recently had a phone call from the NDP urging me to support them. They stated they are working in our best interests with their new housing bills. However, the people who are most overjoyed with these bills are developers, not B.C. residents whose neighbourhoods are now being targeted.
We must ask ourselves, “Who is meant to benefit from these housing bills?" If it is to create “affordable housing” to benefit indigent or low to middle income persons, or new home buyers, the proposals being put forward by developers do not do that. Yet, they are being forced onto municipalities in a top-down, autocratic fashion without due discussion, and with no thought to the impact on traffic, safety, infrastructure, nearby services or the destruction of green space and quiet zones.
In 2010, a man named Daniel Parole coined the term “the missing middle” with respect to available housing in the U.S. and Canada. It is a misleading term that makes one think it refers to middle income individuals. It does not; it merely refers to size: housing that is a neither a single-family dwelling nor a high rise. In other words, the missing middle may be a fourplex, townhouse or small apartment. This is the type of housing the B.C. NDP are directing municipalities to build; and they are further mandating zoning changes so that any lot previously denoted as “single family” now allows “missing middle” multiple family dwellings to be built without notice, public hearings or consultation.
Housing is a real issue, but it is a complex issue that the B.C. NDP has decided to treat as though it were simple. Multiple family units are a good idea, but they should be thoughtfully placed with due consideration to who they are meant to house and with consideration to infrastructure, nearby services and all other impacts.
I urge every B.C. resident to look carefully at how these housing bills will affect their communities. I myself will no longer support the B.C. NDP and their misguided, paternalistic policies.
Norma Freeman
Victoria
