The freshly minted NDP and Green government headed by Premier John Horgan has set itself some ambitious tasks.
At the top of Horgan’s agenda are a commission to raise the minimum wage, and to tackle transit infrastructure.
A major poverty reduction strategy is planned for the first budget, likely to come in September.
Those three problems, plus the specter of the homelessness epidemic, are linked to the crisis of affordability.
The real estate mania has made it hard for working renters, poor seniors, and young people to find any kind of affordable housing. The most vulnerable are simply forced out onto the streets.
The cheapest housing is in the suburbs like Langley, where populations are booming, but transit has been stalled by squabbles between Victoria and the Trans Link Mayors’ Council.
If the NDP and Greens can make some headway on these issues, through helping push wages up, building more affordable housing, and getting transit moving again, they could ease a lot of pressure on a lot of people.
But it won’t be easy. If it was easy, the Liberals would have done it – who wouldn’t like to go into an election having solved homelessness and the housing crunch?
Horgan and his cabinet will have to make some unpopular decisions, and they won’t be able to accomplish all their goals in one year, or even one term in office.
That said, it would be nice to see a government that at least plans to tackle some of our biggest problems.
– M.C.