City council supports affordable housing – well maybe not!
In response to the letter from the directors of the St. Albert Housing Society in “Your View” published in the Dec. 16 issue of the St. Albert Gazette entitled “Cutting Housing Society funding is very disappointing,” Seniors United Now - St. Albert Chapter fully endorses its stand. St. Albert has an affordable housing problem supported by city studies and reports over several years. Various stakeholders, including Seniors United Now, have provided input into the Housing Diversity Action Plan, which clearly revealed there is a need to address this growing problem in our city. In the meanwhile, low and fixed income renters, including seniors, continue to struggle.
To be fair, this is not just a St. Albert problem – it is a national problem. It is reaching a point where we need a creative municipal solution. The St. Albert Housing Society has developed a proven solution but depends on operating grants from the city because it is a non-profit society. The St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village, which administers the Rental Assistance Program, is also under severe strain for lack of sustainable funding.
The final draft of the Housing Diversity Action Plan approved by council on March 16/15 included recommendations to increase sustainable funding to the St. Albert Housing Society and to the St. Albert Rental Assistance Program. SUN recommended funding for a subsidy program similar to a B.C. model called Shelter Aid For Elderly Renters (SAFER), which would meet the needs of senior renters that do not qualify for the St. Albert Rental Assistance Program. Unfortunately, a motion by Gill Prefontaine for city administration to develop guiding principles to establish an affordable housing advisory committee was defeated by a vote of 5-2.
The previous conservative provincial government had warned for several years that it would not be able to continue to provide funding and that municipalities were going to have to become creative. We don’t believe cutting funding to an organization that continues to prove itself is what the government meant as being creative. They should be working in collaboration with and not against the success of the St. Albert Housing Society.
Does St. Albert Council support affordable housing? This can only be measured by what it does and not by what it says. Council’s recent decisions certainly leave a perception that the willingness is not there regardless of its intent.
Respectfully submitted by St. Albert Chapter Seniors United Now, Affordable Housing Committee
