The current economic situation and the rapid increase of population, particularly in HRM, has aggravated an already existing emergency situation that needs action to provide “deeply affordable” housing in Nova Scotia. Some recent views have been expressed on the immediate action required.
Dr. Catherine Leviten-Reid is a CCPA-NS Research Associate writes in The Monitor.
A short-sighted vision that relies primarily on the market to ensure everyone has access to housing underestimates this issue's tremendous rippling impact, which erodes efforts to build a healthy, growing, more inclusive province. (Leviten-Reid, 2023)
Alex Cooke reports for Global News on differing viewpoints about social housing.
Jeff Karabanow, a professor at Dalhousie University and the co-director of Dal’s Social Work Community Clinic, says the province’s housing crisis has been happening for years, and is the result of disinvestment in social housing. (Cooke, 2023)
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr said in recent years, their efforts have touched about a thousand non-profit and co-op housing units through programs such as Compass, the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia, and the Land for Housing Initiative.
He couldn’t say how many of those units were rent-geared-to-income but said they were a mix of different options with more affordable rates.
In terms of “affordable” units going for 80 per cent of market value – a figure typically touted on housing announcements in Nova Scotia – Lohr said it “doesn’t work for some people, but for those it works for, it’s incredibly important.” (Cooke, 2023)
Halifax Councillor Waye Mason has expressed that in this time of likely global housing price collapse, high interest rates, and recession we are in need of the government to help preserve our labour force by funding affordable housing construction.
Finally and most importantly, you are responsible for affordable housing construction in Nova Scotia. In the election, Premier Houston promised to deliver the Affordable Housing Commission report. That report talks extensively about the need for social or below-market housing. I say again to you Minister, the market will not produce below-market housing.
You need to have a massive plan to build affordable housing, and you needed it a year ago. With the coming global housing price collapse, high-interest rates and recession, there has never been a better time for the government to help preserve our labour force by funding affordable housing construction. (Mason, 2022)
In A Good War, author and activist Seth Klein looks at the Second World War strategies and shows how they can be repurposed today for a rapid transition.
Addressing the need for adequate housing in Canada would seem to be connected to the difficulty of life in our winter without appropriate shelter. Housing insecurity creates particularly intense anxiety in our land of ice and snow. Immediate action on a large scale to mitigate this disastrous situation is appropriate for the government.
References
Cooke, A. (2023, June 26). Nova Scotia hasn't built public housing in 30 years. Why that was a 'huge mistake' | Globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://globalnews.ca/news/9784037/ns-public-housing-stagnant-supply/
Klein, S. (2020). A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency. ECW Press.
Leviten-Reid, C. (2023, June 26). Lack of affordable housing in Nova Scotia requires urgent action. The Monitor. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://monitormag.ca/articles/lack-of-affordable-housing-in-nova-scotia-requires-urgent-action/
Mason, W. (2022, November 15). Correspondence from Councillor Mason to Minister Lohr Regarding Housing. Waye Mason, Councillor. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from https://wayemason.ca/2022/11/15/correspondence-from-councillor-mason-to-minister-lohr-regarding-housing/
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