Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran
Image Credit: Submitted / City of Kelowna
March 23, 2021 – 1:43 p.m.
Mayor Colin Basran also pointed out that there are residents in need of meaningful and innovative help in an upbeat “State of the Union” speech on how well the city of Kelowna weathered the COVID-19 storm.
“Better days are coming,” said Basran as he concluded his annual address to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce today, March 23rd.
He also pointed out that he is co-chair of the BC Urban Mayors Caucus, which is a top priority in addressing social issues that affect most communities in BC
“In particular, housing and support for what we call ‘residents with complex needs”, “Basran replied to a question about the problems that businesses in the inner city face.
“These would be residents with significant mental health and addiction problems whose problems are so severe that they actually do not fit into the current model of supportive housing offered by the provincial government, and as a result, these people are at risk on our streets. You are a danger to yourself. They are sometimes a danger to the public. But they also reduce the perception of security in our inner city. ”
After speaking to Prime Minister John Horgan, Basran said he was confident that the province will have money in its upcoming budget for “unique complex nursing homes of its kind” so that we can find people who are currently on our streets – who, as I said, do not fit into the current supportive housing model – into housing, but above all to give them the help they need. ”
That downside note aside, most of what Basran had to say was how well Kelowna did during the pandemic, and how it will move quickly into better times as hopefully the pandemic subsides.
The city’s population grew two percent during the pandemic and unemployment is lower than it was before the COVID outbreak around this time last year, he said.
House prices have skyrocketed and while housing starts have declined over the past year, this follows five years of very strong and at times record-breaking growth, he said.
Kelowna doesn’t necessarily encourage people to move here, but Basran understands why so many want to do this.
“If you live in Kelowna and you can work for a company anywhere, why wouldn’t you?” He pointed out the many attractions of the city and region, such as the lake, the climate, the “food culture”, the entrepreneurial energy and the wine.
“I’ll give the reasons for performing here anywhere else in Canada or around the world,” he said.
In recent years, the city has spoken to over 40,000 more people who moved to Kelowna over the next 20 years. Now Basran has updated that to 45,000.
That means the city must do more to provide affordable housing, not just through provincial or federal subsidy programs, but also by encouraging developers to build more affordable housing.
And he denied concerns that the city’s focus on urban center development could lead people to move single-family homes to West Kelowna or Lake Country.
He pointed out that Kelowna has had a 10-year supply of single-family homes. If more people are interested in urban centers, this offer could extend even longer.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2021
