Mr. Ross spoke to the issue during the Question Period of the Monday Afternoon Session, noting of what he called silence from the other regional MLA's on the issue.
"In the last seven years, all the issues facing B.C. are characterized now as crisis. It doesn't matter what you mention.
And Housing, homelessness specifically, is described as a crisis.
No matter how many announcements you make, the results are worse.
The NDP's failures are obvious all across the province as homelessness skyrockets from one community to the next.
In just one year, Terrace has seen an increase of 46 percent in homelessness.
But wait. Smithers outdid us. Theirs is a staggering 97 percent increase in homelessness.
But Let's not forget Prince Rupert, where homelessness has soared by 106 percent.
And Silence from the NDP MLAs representing those regions — their own representatives that should be advocating in this room, in this House, on this floor, in this chamber.
Can the Premier tell people in Terrace, Smithers and Prince Rupert, how much longer they have to put up with the NDP's new normal of record-high homelessness?"
The Minister wasn't accepting any criticism of the two NDP MLA's of the region, observing of their advocacy on the issue with him. Towards the housing issue in Terrace, Housing Minister Khalon noted of some of the measures taken to date by the province in that community.
"I'll start by saying that I am so proud of my colleagues. Every single day I have colleagues coming to my office saying: "We need this in my community. We need more affordable housing. We need more supportive housing."
Why? Because we know there are great challenges in communities.
We also have members from the opposition who come and advocate for that, which is great, because I think we all need to work together to get that type of housing built.
The member talks about Terrace.
He should know — and he knows; I do know he knows — that we have taken steps to open affordable housing in his community, both with the local nations, and also, when there are emergencies in the community, we've taken steps to get emergency housing available for people so they wouldn't be in vulnerable situations.
We can avoid them being homeless.
I know members understand that. I know it's a challenging time for people and communities. That's why it's critical that we not only invest in more housing, but we also do things like we did today with the short-term rentals: get more housing stock back on the market so those that are working, that have money but can't access housing, have an opportunity to do so." -- BC Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon
The Full Discussion between the MLA and Minister can be viewed from the Legislature Video Archive, Mr. Ross introduces the question at the 2:50PM mark.
The Homeless Report was released on October 5th and noted of the concerning situation for Prince Rupert which counted 146 as homeless during the count in the spring, that is up from 118 recorded in 2021
The document and a letter from the Housing Minister speaking to it, made for much in the way of discussion for Prince Rupert City Council last week, the report as we noted provided for a range of themes for review by the Council members.
October 16 -- Housing Acceleration Action Plan fuels City of Prince Rupert ambitions towards accessing Federal Funding
More notes from the Legislature can be explored here.
Our overview of Housing in the Northwest is available here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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