“When you get to Cortes, you can multiply all those economic stressors by three or four because we have  clients who have been suffering for years with precarious employment, precarious housing, and higher food costs than mainland food costs.” – Cortes Island Food Bank

It’s been a month since hundreds of Campbell River residents were shocked to learn that their city council appeared to be punishing the local art gallery for not confronting the homeless people camped outside its doors.  As city councilor Ron Kerr put it, “We certainly don’t need to give them tax deferrals if they’re not working with us.”

Local MP Rachel Blaney referred to the incident in the House of Commons when speaking about the housing and homelessness crisis:

“My region has seen the largest increase of unhoused people on record. There was a 106% jump in the Comox Valley and almost 70% percent in Campbell River. This is a catastrophe. The Prime Minister says housing is not a federal responsibility, as people and communities move beyond a crisis point. This while Conservative council members in Campbell River have begun targeting non-profits who provide essential services to the unhoused. When are the Liberals going to be an actual federal partner and build people homes? ” 

 Peter Fragiskatos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, responded, “This federal government has been a partner to, namely, not for profit organizations that are doing outstanding work on the ground.”

Rachel Blaney is my guest on Cortes Currents this morning.  

Her statistics on homelessness in her riding are correct. According to the most recent Point In Time count, the unhoused populations of the Comox Valley and Campbell River have grown to 272 and 197 respectively.  Even more alarming, a significant number of them appear to have had homes last year and said they can no longer afford to pay the rent.   

The homeless crisis is also found in rural areas. On Cortes Island for example, at least 46 people are known to have couch-surfed or found some other temporary shelter last year, and another 11 lived outdoors.  

Cortes Currents: “So Rachel, why are you holding the Liberal government responsible?”

Rachel Blaney: “If you think back before 1997, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) used to have a particular branch of that department that built between 15,000 to 20,000 units across the country every year. If we had seen that continue,  I think we would still be in a bit of a housing crisis, but it would not be anywhere to the extent that it is today.”  

“Neither the Conservative or Liberal governments have really replaced that.  A lot of the money that’s going out for so-called ‘social housing’ is based on the market value.  That means investors are getting money to build what they call ‘social housing,’ but right now we know the market is really high. I think at this point it’s $2,500 to $3,000 a month, just for a one bedroom apartment. It’s really not making sure that we’re seeing housing that’s affordable.”

“We’ve also seen  a lot of corporations buying up what used to be social housing or low income housing. They’re renovating it, evicting everyone and then renting out at a much higher rate. This has been happening since 1997 and I think the cumulative effect has really left us across this country in a significant housing crisis.”    

Going back to Blaney’s attack on the government’s housing policy, Fragiskatos replied, “If you look at the record, not just in British Columbia, but across the country, this federal government has been a partner to, namely, not-for-profit organizations that are doing the outstanding work on the ground. The result is obvious, 69,000 people who were on the street – no longer on the street: They are housed now, Mr. Speaker, quite often with the wraparound supports that they need to transition to something better. Add to that 122,000 people who were very close to homelessness, who are no longer in that position. They are housed as well, through the National Housing Strategy.”

Rachel Blaney: “Although the federal government has a little bit of money that’s going towards housing, it’s nowhere near what it used to be.  It’s nowhere near what the need is. Often, speaking as a person who represents a rural riding, what we’re seeing really clearly is, especially for some of the very small communities, they don’t necessarily have the staff on hand to write proposals and to meet the needs that federal funding may request.”

“I think (the Government of) BC has really picked up the ball. Across British Columbia, we’ve seen a pretty significant investment in a lot of forms of housing, social housing, supportive housing and whatnot.”

 After our interview. I did a little fact checking on the National Housing Strategy and BC Housing websites. They both have project maps, which made it easy. 

The National Housing strategy did list six units in a project  for the West Coast Native Health Care Society and Campbell River Head Injury Support Society. 

By comparison there were numerous BC housing projects in our area: 

• 4 units for the Senior’s Village on Cortes Island; 
• 16 units for the Quadra Island Seniors Housing Society; 
• 40 units for the Campbell River and North Island Transitions Society; 
• 27 units for the Campbell River Head Injury Support Society; 
• And two projects with a total of 70 units for the Vancouver Island Mental Health Society. 

So 157 units spread across Campbell River, Quadra Island and Cortes Island, compared to the National Housing Strategy’s 6 units in Campbell River.

Blaney appeared to be correct when she said the provincial government is doing a lot more than the feds  in our area.  

According to the CMHC, ‘housing is considered “affordable” if it costs less than 30% of a household’s before-tax income.’

The 2021 Census shows that 3,145 Campbell River residents do not make that standard, and that number climbs to 4,410 if you include people whose homes are considered ‘not suitable.’

38% of the people who rent on Quadra and 47% of the renters on Cortes Island do not meet that standard. There are smaller numbers of homeowners, on both islands, who are considered ‘at risk.’

Cortes Currents question for Rachel Blaney: Is there a correlation between the rising numbers of ‘at risk’ residents and homelessness? 

Rachel Blaney: “All of those things are definitely related. There’s multiple realities that we’re trying to chase and figure out. Part of it is the lack of building houses. I know that often in these situations, the urban or off reserve Indigenous population is overrepresented. That is something that the NDP was successful in pushing forward: $4 billion in funding over seven years. Nowhere near enough, but the number that they were offering was zero. So from zero to four billion over seven years, I think is at least something that’s going to help.”

“I always reflect on this for myself on a personal level. I am a bit of a homebody, I really like being in my house. It makes me feel really comfortable. There’s all of these things that help me feel like I can deal with the things that I have to deal with in my life. If I did not have a safe place to go home to,  I don’t know how I would react to stress.”  

“These things have huge ramifications. It’s hard to see people out on the streets, and we have to start considering a general bar of dignity that we’re going to feel comfortable with in this country. Right now, far too many people are falling below that, and that is not good. We have to look at our social infrastructure and make sure that we have those things in place.”

“The other thing we’re seeing is the ultra rich, like the top 1 percent in this country, making so much more. Every year we’re  seeing their income increase substantively, and the people who are working for them are not seeing hardly any increase. We have to start to address that. It should not be so unfair in our country. We need to ‘own’ that and start to say you’ve got to pay your fair share. You cannot be making 300 times or 200 times what your workers are making.”

 “At the end of the day, I think all of us can agree we would rather have people in a place where they’re safe, regardless of what issues that they have.”

Cortes Currents: Do you have any comments about the fact that half of the homeless people in Campbell Rivers last Point In Time count were Indigenous, and I suspect a number of them were in their ancestral territory?

Rachel Blaney: “We definitely know that the amount of funding that Indigenous communities are getting for housing has been very problematic. We also know, and this is a documented history, that a lot of the housing that was built, not all, but some housing was built sub-standardly. That means that houses are falling apart. There’s really big issues in those communities.”

“It makes sense to me that we would see people who don’t have a home in their traditional territory. Maybe we are a ‘capture community,’ and what I mean by that in Campbell River is there’s a lot of nations where people come to live and work  and some of them struggle.”

“That’s why we fought so hard to have more housing funding for off reserve Indigenous communities, because we need to see that investment. We have seen it in Courtenay, but we absolutely need it here as well. 

“We need to see more housing, but we also have to  face the reality that a lot of the housing that’s at a market rate, like who can afford it?  It’s very hard to afford some of these units that are like $2,000 (a month) if you’re working at a minimum wage job full-time. Even if you have a partner or a potential roommate, that’s not enough to keep up with the costs of getting to work, of feeding yourself, of paying rent, of paying your hydro and whatever else you may need to pay.”

“I think we really need to start looking at the systems that are really taking away these opportunities and start to say ‘that’s not fair.'”

“We are seeing big grocery stores making significantly higher revenues than they have in the past.”

“We need to start making sure that there’s a stronger element of competition   and that is something really missing in Canada.  Another thing that I can point to is the fact that we did see Shaw and Rogers conglomerate. And so now that means there’s less competition in our country around those costs like cell phones and TV and internet.”

“Less competition means the consumer is paying more. So we have to start looking at what kind of teeth we are giving the non government agencies who look at these things, to be able to actually call this to our attention and hold those corporations to account.”

“We need to see a windfall tax. I’m still gobsmacked that we’re not seeing this.  Even the Conservative government in the UK has done a windfall tax because they’re seeing, just like we are, oil and gas and grocery stores making more profits than they have in the last  30 years. So we’re paying so much at the pump and at the same time, those industries are seeing a much higher profit than they have in a long time.”

Cortes Currents: My last question pertains to the city of Campbell River withholding the Campbell River Art Gallery’s tax Credit, because they have not been aggressive enough with the homeless people sleeping outside of their doors. There was a great deal of public reaction and the city said it was “committed to working with the organization on a productive solution and path forward, which could see the 2024 property taxes funded through Council Contingency.”. 

In fact, there does not appear to have been any change and the Art Gallery is having to pay approximately $10,000 in taxes. You referred to this in the House. Do you have any additional comments?  

Rachel Blaney: “I’m meeting with folks later on this week so that we can have further discussions on this. I spoke out about it because I fundamentally disagree with it.”

“I’ve been to the art gallery and I know that they actually work very powerfully with the unhoused population, allow them to come into their space and do art and to have places where they can express themselves. I think that is essentially what we need to do when we’re going through these very hard times. Where are people supposed to go? Where?”

“I get that people feel uncomfortable. I hear very clearly that crime is increasing and there’s a lot of serious worries. I have a lot of compassion for people who have to deal with the outcomes of those things. It’s hard, but at the same time, these are human beings and we need to respect and treat them like human beings.”

“We need to understand the system is failing, not the people who are unhoused. They’re not failing. We are, as a collective.  So how do we collectively work?  I think it’s important that we tell the people that we elect how we feel and if we disagree.”

“I wrote a letter  to the Mayor and Council and encouraged them not to do that, and to look at other ways of dealing with these issues. because we don’t want to lose organizations that are caring and doing the best they can with the circumstances. If we can’t fix it, why should they be able to fix it on their own?”

“These are really hard, really complex issues, and there is no easy answer, but treating people that poorly, I don’t think is the right answer.”

Top image credit: Rachel Blaney – submitted Photo

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