Nelson/Creston MLA says summer sitting allows Liberals to avoid tough decisions
By Nelson Daily Staff
Nelson/Creston MLA Michelle Mungall is not impressed with the Christy Clark government bring back members to hold a rare summer sitting of the legislature.
Mungall said the upcoming sitting will do nothing but make a few bad headlines on the housing affordability crisis go away while at the same time, not anger Clark’s top donors.
The government’s rational for the “emergency” session, which starts on July 25, is to allow for the creation of legislation specifically to allow Vancouver to implement a vacancy tax.
“This summer session was called to talk about Vancouver’s need for affordable housing, but what about the Kootenays?,” Mungall questions in a media release.
“This government doesn’t seem to notice that housing affordability is a problem across the province.”
Disappointed by the government’s reactive, lower mainland-centric approach, Mungall insists “we need to give municipalities across BC the tools they need to address the affordable housing crisis.
“Here in the Kootenays we have also seen shocking jumps in the rental and real estate market. The province needs to do more to address this issue,” she said.
“Christy Clark could start by supporting the Bills BCNDP Leader John Horgan introduced this spring. His solutions received widespread approval, including from UBC’s Sauder School of Business,” continued Mungall.
This spring, Horgan introduced both the Speculator Tracking and Housing Affordability Fund Act found here and the Property Transfer Tax Fairness Act found here. The BC Liberals continue to ignore these solutions and the bulk of the housing crisis in BC.
