By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
The Sources of Knowledge Forum hosts a weekend forum every spring but it also organizes occasional evening events to explore important subjects. On October 18, SOKF sponsored an Affordable Housing panel discussion at the National Park Visitor Centre in Tobermory.
Four speakers were invited and a video was prepared about an important local housing project.
The program asks “Are we in a housing crisis like the rest of the province?” It continues by noting that “We have not escaped the problems of housing affordability and availability but there are some exciting new developments in housing that may bring some changes to the Northern Bruce”.
Moderator Hazel Smith welcomed the audience and introduced the panelists.
Karla Trudgen designed and implemented the Long-Term Landlord Housing Initiative, a program funded by Bruce County and run by The Meeting Place in Tobermory. She noted that homelessness on the Bruce Peninsula is not obvious, because it doesn’t involve people sleeping rough in public places. But when would-be residents lack “security of tenure” — a right to the bed they’re sleeping in — they are still homeless. Trudgen’s program explored ways to encourage the creation of long-term rental housing.
The evening’s second presentation was a video made by the evening’s moderator, Hazel Smith, in which she interviewed Adam Robins about his plans for a twelve-unit seniors rental complex. (It should be pointed out that this is the first multi-unit long-term rental initiative in Tobermory since the Bradley Davis Apartments were built in the 1980s.) Smith and Robins discussed the process of undertaking a project like this and the challenges a developer faces. Robins stated that if this project works out, he would like to try developing a property closer to the village of Tobermory and to accommodate families and working people as well as seniors.
Rod Layman, speaking on behalf of the Climate Action Committee for MNBP, talked about Home Energy Efficiency in the context of Climate Action. He pointed out that although transportation produces more carbon dioxide than homes, it would still be pretty easy to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our housing. He suggested that MNBP could restrict the use of oil and propane heat in new builds.
Tania Dickson, Bruce County’s Manager of Housing, talked about the Senior Home Care Program. This is an initiative that encourages and facilitates seniors to rent space to younger people who need a place to stay in their community. Properly managed, this program offers a win/win situation, with the tenant getting a place to live and the homeowner getting company and a helping hand when needed.
Jack Van Dorp, of Bruce County Planning, began by saying that when he started with Bruce County, it was difficult to find a job but easy to find a place to live. That situation has reversed. Van Dorp talked about Additional Residential Units — that is, secondary rental suites in existing residential properties. The provincial program intended to foster the development of ARUs applies mainly to places with municipal water and sewers. Absent those facilities, existing bylaw restrictions still apply, which means that for us, very little has changed. Lot size and public health restrictions limit ARU creation in many locations in MNBP.
The four speakers then entertained questions from the audience.
Asked about the impact of restrictions/regulations on Short-Term Accommodations (STAs), Karla Trudgen replied that the STA platforms are insisting the regulations are ineffective, but the regulations are still quite recent so it’s hard to gauge what they will accomplish.
Asked for more detail about the Seniors Home Sharing program, Tania Dickson explained that a third party is needed, to facilitate matching and selection of landlords and tenants. From a legal standpoint each situation needs a strong tenancy agreement, outside Landlord/Tenant Act.
Asked about a tax on vacant housing, Jack Van Dorp explained that a municipality’s ability to implement such a tax is very limited — large municipalities like Toronto and Vancouver can do things that smaller places can’t.
Asked about cooperative housing initiatives, Rod Layman explained that Canada doesn’t have a housing policy the way Europe and the USA do. Canada was moving somewhat in that direction but initiatives were abandoned at all levels in 1990s. Piecemeal subsidies exist in some places but nothing that would help MNBP. “There needs to be a sea change in our national and provincial politics.”
Presentations Online
All four presenters included PowerPoint presentations; they are available on the Sources of Knowledge website, as is the video about Adam Robins’ proposed seniors townhouses.
On the sourcesofknowledge.ca main page, drop the PROGRAMS tab and select SOK TALKS, then click the green bar labelled “Housing in Northern Bruce”.
