YOUR PERSPECTIVE: More NDP-led chaos at BC Housing

It was heartbreaking this past week to see media stories about the deteriorating and unliveable conditions in single-room occupancy residences (SROs) in Vancouver. It’s unconscionable that our most vulnerable people — those most in need of some warmth, comfort and dignity — are living in deplorable and unsanitary living spaces.

We also learned about the persistent false alarms in aging SROs that are putting further stress on emergency services, with one building alone responsible for 500 fire calls in 2022. And for some time, there have been reports of questionable financial practices — with all of these factors contributing to a rising crisis in social housing on the NDP’s watch.

BC Housing has a responsibility to work with SROs and ensure they are providing the basic care that residents need, but the NDP is utterly failing to do its job. SRO tenants shouldn’t be dealing with overflowing toilets — if the washrooms are working at all — pest infestations, and garbage strewn about.

Since the deplorable conditions in one SRO in particular were exposed, Premier Eby has announced he will be doing a review — but it’s shouldn’t take a review to know there’s a problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. The NDP has long had all the information it needs to improve conditions in Vancouver’s SROs, yet those conditions have steadily declined over the last five years.