The head of a local homelessness organization hopes for a more coordinated effort from the BC government following the election.
As of this week, Elections BC says the BC NDP have been re-elected, winning 47 of the 93 seats.
Coordinator for the Comox Valley Coalition to End Homelessness Dayna Forsgren says they are seeing an increase in people experiencing homelessness through different sectors in the Comox Valley.
“We’re seeing a high impact specifically seniors, indigenous community members, youth, people with disabilities, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,” said Forsgren.
“Especially as the weather gets colder, it’s definitely challenging to see. We meet with folks experiencing homelessness on a weekly basis and at this time, there’s not enough space for those individuals to access shelter during extreme weather months.”
Forsgren says while the coalition is close to getting a space for those in need, they don’t have one at this time.
With Eby re-elected, she says we need a coordinated effort from across various levels in BC to help with the housing crisis.
“The coalition, the municipalities, and provincial politicians need to come to the table together to understand how we can move forward through community effort,” said Forsgren.
“Some major pieces we need is increased affordable housing, but truly affordable housing, so rent geared to income. We’re seeing that even affordable housing isn’t affordable for a lot of people who are low-income.”
She says we need to also look at these systems to find their issues, how we can address the root causes of poverty, and look at rent control and tenancy protections.
When it comes to Brennan Day, the newly elected MLA for Courtenay – Comox, Forsgren sees an opportunity for the MLA to be more involved because of Day’s experience working for the Eureka Society.
While she has some concerns because of the opposition towards safe supply programs across BC, which affect those suffering from substance use issues, she hopes Day will show up to community initiatives, secure funding for more innovative housing, and to be involved.
