This is an ongoing discussion in many press articles and political circles as to how society needs to deal with the underprivileged that are in need of housing.

We all agree that the essentials in life are Food, Clothing and Shelter. Everything else comes to play only when you are fed, warm and cozy.

My years in construction witnessed some 600 plus housing units over time and in one instance Fording Coal Ltd needed apartments at Elkford to house their employees. The employees preferred detached housing but subdivisions take time and Verigin built three (3) separate apartment buildings that yielded 80 units to do just that.

The subdivisions were eventually constructed and the families moved from the apartments into the single family homes and the apartments became empty. The costs of maintaining an empty apartment are substantial. Fording Management decided to stratify the buildings and offer them as low as $15,000 purchase for a 3 bedroom apartment.

Try as they would with extensive advertising throughout British Columbia and Alberta with no success. In the end the apartments were demolished and taken to the landfill

Meanwhile Intertech Construction were Contractors to redevelop the Woodwards Store area in east Vancouver. One of the requirements of the Developer was to construct about 70 condos for the Homeless at a cost of over $450,000 per unit.

Yes, it is obvious, why could not the Homeless be appropriated a unit in Elkford at a cost of $15,000 rather than $450,000 a unit? Perhaps, the rights of the underprivileged were at stake as they did not want to leave downtown Vancouver?

Peter Rezansoff and I shared a few bottles of wine talking about this. Peter was even more dismayed as the condition of the $450,000 condos he built so well, deteriorated very quickly with time due to abuse by the Users.

My next story is about the Grandview Housing site in Castlegar, B.C. The Kootenay Columbia Seniors Housing Cooperative (KCSHC) developed a 60 acre site. try as they would, B.C. Housing could not establish a program to assist them within their guidelines.

One day a call came from B.C. Housing with the news that they had a Manufactured Homes incentive. “Would Grandview accept funding for about 50 Manufactured Homes?”

The former Calamida Stadium site would suit this funding as the program required free land and only the municipality could receive the funding.

The KCSHC wholeheartedly agreed to donate the subject about 4 acre site and called the City of Castlegar to meet officials from the BC Housing for a meeting on site to exercise the funding.

The City never showed up!

With the BC Housing Officials on site, calls to the City were responded by “no one was available to meet them at this time!”

The funding went to another community that would cooperate.

So what is wrong with our governments?

In both instances, partnership with private ownership would have easily provided affordable housing for the underprivileged.

What is missing here?

Under construction by E Verigin August 29, 2017. Completed August 30, 2017