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Finding affordable housing in the Skeena riding is tough. This is how 2 candidates plan to make it easier

Monica Jeffrey thought she could afford to live in her RV in Terrace, B.C., and go back to school after losing her job in the mining industry and her house to the bank.

Turns out, she can't.

She said rates at RV parks in and around the northern city have gone up steadily in the last two years, likely driven by others like her looking for affordable options, or crews rolling into town in fifth wheelers to work on liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the area.

Jeffrey has relocated to a slightly cheaper park on the outskirts of town, but doesn't know how much longer she can afford her shifting lifestyle.

And she is not alone.

Monica Jeffrey
Monica Jeffrey

Finding affordable housing is a challenge in the Skeena riding, which includes Terrace and the District of Kitimat — the site of a major LNG construction project. Despite these resource extraction projects and the economic boom they bring, there are many, like Jeffrey, who simply cannot pay the rents being charged in these communities.

With a provincial election mere days away, Eliis Ross, the B.C. Liberal Party candidate for the riding and B.C. NDP candidate Nicole Halbauer brought their affordable housing plans to the table on CBC's Daybreak North.

"Working with municipalities is key," said Ross.

The B.C. Liberal Party platform says the party plans to implement an incentive fund for municipalities with housing policies "that enable demonstrable increases in the construction and supply of new housing."

Ross said he wants to see less red tape and bureaucracy at the municipal level so it is easier for the private sector to build more housing supply in the area.

"The supply and demand argument goes out the window when you look at a 30 per cent vacancy rate in Kitimat alone," countered Halbauer.

High vacancy but high rents

Kitimat currently has high vacancy rates and high rents, with a possible explanation being that landlords are speculating they can rent high to LNG workers later rather than locals now.

Halbauer said she knows more than 80 people in Kitimat, which has a population of about 8,000, who are facing housing issues despite the large number of rental vacancies.

Some of her own family members, she said, are currently homeless.

"Ensuring that people are given the dignity of basic housing is the very least we can do when we have billion dollar projects going through our riding" said Halbauer.

The B.C. NDP platform includes a 10-year housing plan that aims to build 114,000 affordable rental and supportive homes over that time frame, something Halbauer says has already begun.

Ellis said that plan is unrealistic and there are too many variables to be able to make that promise. He also pointed out the NDP did not deliver on a past election promise to provide renters with a $400 rental rebate.

Michelle Ghoussoub/CBC
Michelle Ghoussoub/CBC

He called Kitimat "an anomaly" because of its high vacancy and high rents and said one reason he has heard from realtors is because Terrace has more services and more people purchase homes there.

Sandra Hinchliffe, the vice-president of the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board (BCNREB), told CBC in August, that real estate sales in northern B.C. were hot after the pandemic and showed no signs of cooling down.

Ellis said he wants more LNG workers to move their families to Kitimat.

He said "one of the best ideas he heard recently from a local is to hire people to staff kiosks in work camps with the sole purpose of attracting more permanent community residents.

Halbauer is also looking to the future.

"We have to be more than just an extraction community. We need to have something left here. Those finances need to be here to support our community members."