SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 237 - Oct/23/23

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Oct/23/23 3:11:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the City of Coquitlam has had to foot the bill to save affordable homes because the federal government is missing in action. Renters in my community are being displaced at alarming rates as their homes are being sold off to for-profit developers. Homelessness in Coquitlam is soaring. We cannot afford to lose more co-ops and rentals. The Liberals are turning their backs on local governments that are doing their best to protect low-income renters. How many more people need to go homeless before the Liberals take this housing crisis seriously?

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Context: House Hansard - 237 - Oct/23/23

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Oct/23/23 6:30:08 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-57

Madam Speaker, I want to ask the member about the economic impact assessments of free trade agreements and how wide or narrow those assessments should be. What does the member think about the fact that an economic impact assessment is missing in this case?

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All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 237 - Oct/23/23

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Oct/23/23 6:53:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am rising tonight to talk about the rising rates of rents in my communities and the inability for people to find a home to rent. In my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, rent is rising at an alarming rate. As of October 2023, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Coquitlam is $2,465. This is a 23% increase compared to the previous year. Rentals are priced beyond what many people can afford. With the prices of homes being even further out of reach for many, rental is their only option. The number of people who have not been able to secure safe and affordable rental housing is now causing a homelessness crisis in the Tri-Cities. In Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, there has been an 86% increase in homelessness. The Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group released its records this month. The local figures show that 160 people in the Tri-Cities indicated that they are homeless. We have seen their affordable housing being taken down and replaced with luxury condos that are unaffordable to most of our community. Families are being pushed out of their neighbourhoods. Seniors and persons with disabilities are unable to find a new place to live as their long-term housing has been taken down. We have seen this government promise to invest in affordable housing, but its approach is just not working. The lack of affordable housing is hurting people, especially those living on fixed incomes. Something has got to change, but this government has only just started talking about housing affordability and, really, there has been no talk about how we get people into affordable rentals now. Our communities do not need more expensive condos. They cannot wait for the much-needed GST rebate. The housing accelerator fund is not helping renters fast enough. Will this government step up and work now to get some affordable housing in the community of Coquitlam? I will close with another question. Right now in my riding, there is new development happening almost every day, and there is a large development coming up in my riding. I am wondering how we can get the federal government to come to the table early, to start the discussions on how we can get more affordable housing replaced in my community.

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Context: House Hansard - 237 - Oct/23/23

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo

Oct/23/23 6:59:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I really hope that the member and I can work more closely together and that we can go out together and look at some of those sites in my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam. There is a lot of opportunity, but unfortunately, the supply crisis where I live in my community is driven by the loss of affordable units. It is 15 to one that we are losing affordable units. When we talk about those units that are along transit or close to shopping, those used to be affordable units, but now they are luxury condos, up to 50 storeys tall. According to some of the housing data that is collected, almost a quarter of them are sitting empty. That is why the Government of B.C. recently brought into place a ban or limit on the Airbnbs, because those units were actually built to be Airbnbs. They are displacing long-term residents, who have rented for a very long time, with luxury units that they can no longer afford. Yes, let us get together. However, could the member please tell me how we get those conversations started earlier with the federal government?

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