In the Nov. 8 letter to the editor titled: B次元官网网址淏.C. housing targets benefit development community,B次元官网网址� I pointed out that the UDI development lobby had been calling for mandatory housing targets for the municipalities. I asked the province a number of questions, including which communities were consulted over the summer to generate the latest set of targets and who exactly was consulted? To my surprise, the Ministry of HousingB次元官网网址檚 Housing Targets Branch responded the next day to many of the same questions that I had asked them by email on Oct 5. Their response was: B次元官网网址淢unicipal staff from all 10 municipalities participated in consultation meetings with Ministry of Housing staff.B次元官网网址� Translation: the government had consulted itself, bypassing elected councils in the process.
At the Nov. 20 Saanich council meeting, the CAO was asked: B次元官网网址淒id staff recommend the target numbers for the District of Saanich for the province to then authorize?B次元官网网址� The CAO responded plainly: B次元官网网址淣o.B次元官网网址�
So where did the mandatory target numbers for the district come from? They clearly didnB次元官网网址檛 come from the B次元官网网址榗onsultationB次元官网网址�. The province, led by the NDP, simply made them up, and in doing so, essentially told the municipality to swallow the numbers, regardless of the consequences.
Not exactly democratic, but then neither is wiping out public hearings en masse with Bill 44, which was rammed through before the month was over; after the housing minister appeared unsettled, upon being asked pointed questions by MLA Adam Olsen during the legislative proceedings, about the lack of genuine consultation involved.
Also, in the Oct. 5 email from the Housing Ministry, was written: B次元官网网址淚ndividual municipal responses to the ProvinceB次元官网网址檚 housing targets may be found on each of the respective municipality websites.B次元官网网址�
I emailed SaanichB次元官网网址檚 CAO to ask him: B次元官网网址淲here can I find this for Saanich?B次元官网网址�
He responded: B次元官网网址淪aanich has not published its response and itB次元官网网址檚 not on the website.B次元官网网址�
There you have it. The BC NDP government gets a 0 on transparency and accountability here, but then they didnB次元官网网址檛 need that to invoke closure on Bill 44 and in doing so, invoke closure on countless public hearings in the future.
Sasha Izard
Saanich
