NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for a federal equivalent to a B.C. rental-housing-acquisition fund that he says is helping to retain affordable housing.
On Sunday, Singh praised B.C.’s $500-million Rental Protection Fund, which helps non-profit groups purchase rental buildings.
“We want to force the Liberal government to bring that in an upcoming budget,” he said, standing in front of an Esquimalt rental building that was recently preserved as affordable housing.
Lu’ma Native Housing is buying the 16-unit Carrie Street building through low-interest financing and a $3-million contribution from the Rental Protection Fund.
Singh said that for every new affordable unit that’s being built, 11 existing affordable homes are being lost.
Maja Tait, Sooke mayor and NDP candidate for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, said that “half of the inventory” in Esquimalt was bought up by corporate landlords in just one year.
The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Esquimalt has risen to more than $2,000, she said.
“Everyone I speak with tells me about the pressure they’re facing [in] finding an affordable place to rent,” she said. “Those that have a reasonably priced place are consistently worried about a building being sold and that they may be forced out.”
Kira Adams moved back in with her parents in Esquimalt a few months ago after she was renovicted from her one-bedroom apartment in Vernon by her building’s new Vancouver-based owners.
“They basically bullied us all out,” she said, adding that she was paying $750 a month in rent and the new landlords wanted to double it.
“It’s kind of sad — I’m almost 30 and I’m back with mom and dad,” Adams said. “It sucked that I had no other choice.”
Singh said the federal government should “at a minimum” be able to match B.C.’s $500-million fund, adding he also wants to see more affordable homes being built.
“But if we’re building homes and also losing what we have that’s affordable, we’re never going to win this fight.”
Victoria MP Laurel Collins said the federal NDP has been pushing for a federal equivalent of the Rental Protection Fund for some time.
“Rents are astronomical here in Victoria and people are struggling,” she said. “I think everyone’s feeling the squeeze.”
The three federal opposition leaders were in B.C. in the past week speaking to their supporters.
Singh toured the Island, visiting a string of communities on eastern Vancouver Island and in the capital region.
Green Party leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault were in Campbell River and Nanaimo.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke at the Vancouver Board of Trade on Friday and was in the Okanagan on Saturday.
In Kelowna, he said he would use federal infrastructure funding as an incentive for cities to permit an annual 15 per cent increase in home-building. “Those that beat the target will get bonuses. Those that miss it will pay a fine.”
Poilievre told the Times Colonist in November that he wants governments to get “out of the way” in home-building and to speed up permitting processes.
— with files from Castanet
