By John Francis,
Bruce Peninsula Press
My old man’s a dustman,
‘E wears a dustman’s ‘at,
‘E wears gor-blimey trousers
And ‘e lives in council flats.
That was a hit song when I was a kid, a rambunctious music-hall anthem, bursting with working-class pride, sung in a bold Cockney accent.
Looking at it from the perspective of a 21st century Ontario tourist destination, the most interesting part of the song is the last two words.
Council Flats. Apartments built by the local council for people who couldn’t otherwise afford housing.
Where would a dustman (garbage collector) live in our community in 2022? The same question applies to carpenters, labourers, retail and supermarket workers, food service workers, personal care workers and many more people in the commercial and service sectors.
Council Flats are not an option — we don’t have any.
Commercial rentals (houses, flats and apartments) are in very short supply. Private houses are almost exclusively rented as STAs, because city people are willing to pay more for a week than local people can afford for a month.
This in turn has driven real estate prices into the stratosphere, with values based on what a property can earn on the STA market.
So if they don’t live here already, prospective dustmen sure won’t be able to buy themselves a house.
This is starting to erode our basic services — our daycares are nervous about finding staff; so is Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home. Retail businesses are closing early because they can’t find staff; contractors are booked years in advance because they can’t find carpenters and labourers to build faster.
And if you want to find a cleaning lady, a handiman (or a cleaning man or a handiwoman) or a personal service worker — you may find yourself on a waiting list or just doing it yourself.
These things are beginning to have an effect on our quality of life. Before long, they could make it more difficult for the elderly to stay in their shoreline homes.
Thirty-five years ago, Bruce County built the Bradley Davis Seniors Apartments in Tobermory. The facility has town sewers but a private well. Trying to service that building with a well has been nothing but trouble since day one. It is an experience the County is not eager to repeat, so their enthusiasm for further projects in Tobermory could be described as “muted”.
In Lion’s Head, there is town water but no town sewers. The County has little enthusiasm for building there, either.
The provincial and federal governments always have a backlog of housing projects that need funding. That means that unless a project has both town water and town sewer, it will never find its way to the top of the list.
So if we want “Council Flats”, MNBP is going to have to pony up, one way or the other. Either build them from scratch without funding assistance or “prime the pump” by putting in town sewers in Lion’s Head and town water in Tobermory.
You’d have to raise taxes to do any of those things. Raising taxes would be controversial, something councillors would be reluctant to do unless they were sure the electorate was behind them.
By coincidence, this is an election year. If voters made it plain that they want action on this file and are willing to pay higher taxes to get it, we might get a council willing to take the plunge.
Nominations open May 2. Discussion of the issue can start anytime.
