A student leader encourages Saanich to loosen certain bylaws after another student had raised concerns about a B次元官网网址渄iscriminatoryB次元官网网址� bylaw.
Ainsley Kerr, director of campaigns and community relations for the University of Victoria StudentsB次元官网网址� Society, said bylaws like limiting the number of unrelated occupants B次元官网网址渁re dismissiveB次元官网网址� of the fact that sharing living space with unrelated occupants has always been a stage in the lives of students or young persons.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 easy to generalize low-income renters as B次元官网网址榮tudentsB次元官网网址� and forget that sharing housing is a normal, pro-social behaviour that allows young people to participate in our larger communities,B次元官网网址� she said.
She made these comments after Emma Edmonds, a third-year-student at UVic, questioned SaanichB次元官网网址檚 bylaw enforcement.
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Edmonds told council during SaanichB次元官网网址檚 open forum Jan. 21 that the municipality is evicting her and six other UVic students under Section 5. 20 of SaanichB次元官网网址檚 zoning bylaw, from their residence in the 1800 block of Teakwood Place near the intersection of McKenzie Avenue and Gordon Head Road.
The bylaw section states the number of B次元官网网址減ersons unrelated by blood or marriageB次元官网网址� in a dwelling B次元官网网址渋ncluding boarders shall not exceed four.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淸Section 5.20] is discriminatory towards students and needs to be amended,B次元官网网址� said Edmonds.
Kerr broadly agreed with this argument.
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B次元官网网址淲hile itB次元官网网址檚 important to protect the rights of landlords and maintain the rental market, in cases like this, loosening certain bylaws could prevent tenant and landlords from being unnecessarily pitted against each other without putting landlords at risk,B次元官网网址� said Kerr.
She said she is not aware of any recent discussions between the student society and the municipality around this issue.
B次元官网网址淲ith that said, the municipality of Saanich has shown an interest in student issues and worked with the UVSS this year to put polling stations on campus for the municipal election,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e would love to continue working with the Saanich mayor and council and start conversations about housing bylaws in the municipality, especially those affecting the student community.B次元官网网址�
Coun. Ned Taylor said he appreciated EdmondsB次元官网网址� appearance before council.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an extremely unfortunate situation, and the reality is that when students are evicted due to an illegal rental situation, theyB次元官网网址檙e simply going to have to find an illegal rental situation somewhere else because thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing else available,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his is yet another reminder of just how hard we need to work to address our affordable housing crisis,B次元官网网址� he said.
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