Response from John Conway:

Many citizens of Regina are concerned that the current City Council is dominated by the business lobby in the community.  The voice of the business lobby, represented by a variety of well-financed and well-connected organizations, resonates in Council debates, while sight is lost of the general public interest.  This is reflected by a pattern over the years of business-oriented policy decisions, while the interests and needs of residential property owners and those working for wages and salaries are assigned low priority.  No where is this made clearer than Council’s existing policy on affordable housing, or should I say non-policy on affordable housing?

My platform includes the following statement of principle:

“Affordable housing:  Council has failed in its responsibility to provide an effective policy that combines affordability, strict regulation and oversight, and reasonable levels of profit, permitting instead an uncontrolled and irresponsible bonanza of development primarily benefiting business interests.  It is not surprising that many in Regina refer to Council as a front for developers and slum landlords.”

In order to realize the goal of affordable housing, the City must impose more rigorous regulations and oversight of the whole condoization process.  As more and more people surrender the idea of purchasing their own homes early in their working careers, the City must take its responsibility to renters more seriously by increasing oversight and regulation, and protecting the rights of tenants from landlords more vigorously, especially from gouging rent increases.

Housing for the poor must be seen as a public responsibility of the City through facilitating and enabling, including full funding or start up funding for social housing projects where appropriate.  A mixture of options should be on the table: fully owned public housing; supports for third party non-profits to embark on projects; and the encouragement of co-operative housing projects.