Homelessness in Abbotsford

The progress in addressing homelessness often appears to be almost nonexistent. Any successes reached tend to be swallowed up by the ever-present, and growing challenges around homelessness. Some of the issues can "fly below the radar", while others confront us on a daily basis.

Abbotsford is fortunate to have a large number of service providers who expend large sums of money and direct large amounts of human resources in addressing homelessness. The City assists where it can and within the parameters of its mandate. 

Collectively, a significant number of initiatives have been completed, and more are in progress. Funding from the federal government has not been accessible to this point, however, that too may soon change. In the meantime, we continue to address the issue in a variety of ways. The following provides a list, albeit an incomplete list, of some of the achievements over the last 6 years, or so. 

Christine Lamb Residence, 2012  – 41 units of supportive housing for women and children who are at risk of homelessness. City land provided

George Schmidt Centre, 2013 – 30 units of supportive housing for men who are at risk of homelessness. City land provided

Gladys Housing Project, 2017 – 30 unit supportive-housing for homeless men. City land provided

Lynnhaven Society, 2013  – 64 units of furnished rental housing to seniors on very low income. City funds provided through DCC costs reduction

Elizabeth Fry Firth Residence – 22 units of transitional housing to women and women with children, helping them break cycles of addiction, poverty, and homelessness

Homelessness & Housing Coordinator, 2015– a new position created in the City, which has paid dividends in a very short time (through initiatives, planning, grants applied for which are bearing fruit now).

Mayor’s initiative to engage the faith community – first dialogue has just occurred, with more to follow in the new year. Providing opportunities for the wider faith community to become engaged in addressing gaps in the homelessness support system. Through this initiative, faith community stepped up and provided funds for Salvation Army kitchen to continue providing breakfasts through the winter.

Rental Connect – new initiative, engaging the faith community, in identifying rental options and support for landlords willing to accommodate those who are either homeless or in danger of homelessness. This is supported by a generous grant from the federal government, as a result of City staff efforts.

Emergency Shelter on Riverside Rd., 2015 – 40 bed emergency shelter with supportive care; (City provided land and capital costs to get it operational); lobbied gov’t to extend funding to keep it open through this last summer.

Dignity Village – in limbo; waiting on proponents to respond to City staff’s requests for important details. (No guarantee this will get Council approval, if and when the proponent meets his requirements.)

Collaborative Road-Mapping - approach that engaged all interested community stakeholders in designing a strategy to prevent and respond to homelessness in Abbotsford. Pieces of this strategy are being initiated now, and more will follow. A very significant amount of federal funding is dependent on doing this well, and we are led to believe that funding is imminent. (significant staff time invested)

Diagram: https://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/2014+Abbotsford/Planning+and+Development/Homelessness/A+Collaborative+Roadmap+for+the+Prevention+of+and+Response+to+Homelessness+in+Abbotsford+-+Diagram.pdf

The Report: http://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/2014+Abbotsford/Planning+and+Development/Homelessness/Abbotsford+Homelessness+Strategy+Roadmap+-+A+Collaborative+Roadmap+for+the+Prevention+of+and+Response+to+Homelessness+in+Abbotsford.pdf

Residential Development

Municipal Red Tape

The following was posted by The Fraser Institute:

District of North Vancouver, Vancouver lead the Lower Mainland in red tape for new residential development

Release Date:    June 23, 2015 - 

VANCOUVER—The District of North Vancouver and the City of Vancouver are the most regulated municipalities in the Lower Mainland and consequently the most difficult in which to build new housing, according to a survey of homebuilders released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.

“A large body of research has shown that onerous regulation stunts the homebuilding process and contributes to rising home prices. With housing affordability being a major issue in Metro Vancouver, the results of this survey indicate that red tape at some Lower Mainland city halls is deterring development and likely contributing to the affordability problem,” said Kenneth Green, Fraser Institute senior director of energy and natural resources.

New Homes and Red Tape: Residential Land-Use Regulation in BC’s Lower Mainland, compares jurisdictions across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley on several categories of red tape (construction approval times, timeline uncertainty, regulatory costs and fees, rezoning prevalence and the effect council and community groups have on development) based on the experiences and opinions of industry professionals.

In an aggregate ranking of 10 municipalities (municipalities that garnered sufficient numbers of survey responses), the District of North Vancouver comes out as the most regulated municipality earning low marks in construction approval times (16.1 months compared to the Lower Mainland average of 11.2 months) and in the percentage of residential development requiring rezoning (95 per cent versus an average of 68 per cent).

The City of Vancouver ranks worse than the Lower Mainland average on all indicators, except in rezoning requirements, and scores particularly poorly with regard to regulatory costs and fees. The study finds that, to get approval for construction, a typical residential developer in Vancouver spends $38,333 per individual dwelling unit (30 percent more than the region-wide average) before a shovel even hits the ground.

Conversely, in Burnaby — which shares a border with Vancouver —homebuilders report an average of just $17,542 in costs and fees despite the fact that both cities have no choice but to build ‘up’ to grow.

“There’s a school of thought out there that higher costs and fees are associated with greenfield development. In other words, municipal governments require more money to service the new areas of development and to build new infrastructure. We found no evidence of that in our survey,” Green said.

“Instead, it appears that we’re seeing a form of NIMBYism where council and community opposition to residential development is strongest in municipalities with higher dwelling values — like on the North Shore and in Vancouver. That doesn’t bode well for housing affordability in the region.”

The City of Abbotsford finished as the least-regulated municipality, followed by Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey.

*Lower Mainland Regulation Rankings (from least regulated to most regulated):

    Abbotsford
    Burnaby
    Coquitlam
    Surrey
    Richmond
    Maple Ridge
    Langley Township
    City of North Vancouver
    Vancouver
    District of North Vancouver

* This aggregate index only includes municipalities that garnered sufficient numbers of survey responses

November 2017 Update

In 2017, NAIOP awarded Abbotsford "The Most Business-Friendly Municipality" by NAIOP (a Commercial Real Estate Development Company). 


REIN (Real Estate Investment Network) announced also, last November, that Abbotsford was the 2nd best city in British Columbia to invest in, with respect to real estate.

"YOUR WORSHIP"

A Feudal Practice

Worship, (noun) (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (preceded by: Your, His, or Her) Brit a title used to address or refer to a mayor, magistrate, or a person of similar high rank

   Should the practice of referring to elected officials (i.e. mayors) as “Your Worship” be continued? Some argue that the practice be discontinued on religious grounds, as expressed recently by G. Peachey; that the term is reserved for addressing our Creator God. I have never heard anyone use it that way, nor have I ever referred to God as “Your Worship”, but when used as a verb, it has for me always denoted an action directed towards God.

   Used as a noun, however, it does not convey the same meaning for me. I will, however, suggest that it should be discontinued on other grounds, which speak more directly to its origin, dating back to the feudal era. At that time, there was a wide social and economic disparity between the peasants and their landlords, who were obliged to provide safety and justice in return for the peasants’ labour. These landlords not only provided security, but also ruled the feudal lives of the lower-class serfs.

   It was in this relation of landlord-peasant, where subordination and obedience was demanded and accepted, that the landlord was addressed as “Your Worship”, signifying a higher-ranking status. Following the industrial revolution, society moved from a feudal to a capitalist order, and in this environment, landlords were gradually replaced by appointed, and later, elected mayors in the English political context. Notwithstanding a total social revolution and structural change, mayors continued to be addressed as “Your Worship”, particularly in the English world.

   Canada has inherited its parliamentary system of government and judicial system from Great Britain. Many of the practices, titles, and terminology associated with both continue to be found in our country. With respect to the title, “Your Worship”, it specifically has its origin in a society and political structure that reflects inequality and subordination. Using that term in a democratic society in the 21^st century is questionable, and if we are to discontinue using it for that reason, I would certainly agree. In fact, I would support the position that it’s unacceptable. Our mayors are elected representatives and “servants” of the public, as are all elected officials. Let’s resolve to discontinue its use, but for the right reason.