The Spin:
Carole James claims the NDP is the best party to confront the challenges and homelessness in the province.
The Facts:
Carole James knows that no government in BC history has done more to confront homelessness than the BC Liberal government, and that the NDP has made every effort to derail that agenda for purely partisan reasons.
The Proof:
The NDP have used their votes and their policies to try to derail every positive action taken by government on homelessness since 2001.
Here’s the full story:
- As Opposition, the Carole James NDP has aggressively opposed and voted against every measure to improving housing for vulnerable British Columbians, including:
- Consecutive budget increases that have tripled investment in housing and other initiatives aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness to over $400 million a year.
- Consecutive tax reductions and credits for families that have given everyone earning under $111,000 the lowest taxes in Canada -- saving all taxpaying families hundreds of dollars a year if not more, with 250,000 low-income British Columbians now paying no income taxes at all.
- Commitments and resources to build more than 15,900 new units of subsidized housing with a wide range of new and expanded housing programs - including the purchase of 17 SROs in Vancouver and supporting the City on the development of 12 new housing sites.
- Creation of the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) in 2006, providing rent supplements to 6,000 low-income families -- a program the NDP says is “simply a gift to landlords” (Finding Our Way Home, p.6, Jun 2008)
- Creation of the innovative Homeless Outreach Program that has helped more than 2,500 people obtain housing throughout the province.
- Significant investments in emergency shelter funding that has more than doubled our capacity to 1,500 and now keeps those facilities open 24/7
- Dramatic expansion of the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program that provides more than 15,700 seniors receive an average monthly payment of about $150, that’s 3,700 more seniors receiving assistance than in 2001 .
The Bottom Line?
The Carole James NDP have no plan to address homelessness. They had no plan in the 1990s and still don’t today. Their only actions have been to oppose initiatives proven to help families and individuals in every corner of the province.
