Dear editor,
When we go to vote we will be asked a question regarding providing housing for the homeless.
The subject of affordable housing isn’t even on the table.
Here is something to think about when you go to the ballot box.
In September 2014, the National Post wrote:
1. “A growing number of Canadians have enough savings to only cover one month or less in a financial emergency.”
2. “Three in 10 are living pay cheque to pay cheque.”
The Comox Valley has a large percentage of people living on less than a “living wage.” All that needs to happen is being laid off; seriously ill; having an accident and can’t work. The provincial and federal government do not provide enough money to pay for adequate housing and won’t be any time soon.
This past weekend’s news reported a 75-year-old woman, who had lived in Squamish for 30 years, living in a low-cost hotel, fell down the stairs and was taken to hospital. Upon release she had no place to go because she had no money. She was now homeless. A social worker drove her 100 kilometres away to the Fraser Valley.
Before you vote regarding housing for the homeless, think about it this way: The person you vote to provide housing for could be yourself.
E. A. Foster, Comox