I laughed out loud when I read Victoria Adams’ recent letter in the Saanich News. Was it an April Fools joke? My question to her: Where is this magical place where individuals or neighbourhood associations “exert significant influence” on municipalities?
The truth is that it is developers who are embedding themselves in city halls through design advisory panels and lobby organizations such as the Urban Development Institute. These groups are working hard to sidestep OCPs and LAPs, and squash public pushback against their overpriced townhomes and condos.
Believe me that most “Millennial-age renters, modest-income seniors, or outsiders” can’t afford them.
It’s astonishing to me that Ms. Adams hasn’t noticed the torrid pace of building in Greater Victoria for the last decade. None of it has made a difference to the housing crisis. The effects have spilled over into the rental market and the homeless crisis, the doctor shortage, the water shortage, the loss of urban tree canopy and green space, the overwhelming of our transportation infrastructure… It leaves us ever more vulnerable to the effects of the major earthquake we know is coming.
As a homeowner, all this building has made me a paper millionaire so why should I complain? This matters less to me than the fact my children had to leave Vancouver Island for other provinces so they could have a chance to afford a home.
Ms. Adams and I agree on the effects, but I think she is confused as to the cause.
Michael Laplante
Saanich