B.C. Premier John Horgan made an announcement today regarding a move that will protect renters during the COVID-19 crisis.
Speaking with Vancouver-Burrard MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, the pair outlined a measure that will offer a $500 monthly subsidy that will be sent directly to landlords who have tenants that are unable to pay their rent due to their inability to work during the pandemic.
It's a great thing, and it will help a lot of families during this time.
Thanks to this and other measures, we're part of the way there when it comes to the various levels of government helping to stop the bleeding out of our local economies.
However it's interesting to note that the feeble $400 per year subsidy that the very same government promised to desperate renters in 2017 has not, and will not likely ever, materialize.
The "crisis" back then was the housing market in the Lower Mainland. With prices of real estate peaking and rents starting to go through the roof for families then, many have packed up and left for more affordable pastures.
The NDP saw a political opportunity in 2017, hoping to convince voters that they should put their trust in them to govern, and that they were going to be cutting renters a cheque for a cool $400.
They never did that. If you voted for them with the hopes that you'd be getting that money, you're SOL.
Today's announcement is the closest thing to that promise, and it took a complete economic meltdown to provoke it.
Looking at the list of other things they have yet to deliver on, one has to wonder if it's going to take a nuclear war to convince them to come through on ones like their promise for an extra $30 million per year for school supplies.
Boom.
With lost jobs and lost wages due to COVID-19, many people are struggling to pay for the essentials.
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) March 26, 2020
That's why BC stepped up to be the first province delivering direct help for renters and landlords. pic.twitter.com/CFmCzdZRah
