Premier David Eby addressed the State of the Island Economic Summit in Nanaimo on Thursday morning, speaking about housing, transportation and the toxic drug crisis.<\/p>\n
The premier said the housing and affordability crisis is a drag on the provincial economy and that is why his government introduced legislation to regulate short-term rentals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a vacancy rate of less than one per cent it's a drag on the provincial economy, the fact that people can't find housing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe literally have strata buildings where 70 and 80 per cent of the units in them are short term rentals. The net effect \u2014 whether it's a series of individuals with a single investment unit, or one individual with 70 investment units \u2014 is the same, which is that we need those units for people who help make the province go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The premier said the province is buying up land around transit corridors to build affordable middle-income housing and is looking to partner with municipalities for innovative solutions such as putting housing on top of fire stations, city halls, schools and on hospital grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe momentum behind this is very significant,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think ultimately it will be quite transformative as we get back into the business of making sure that the middle class actually has a place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eby said Highway 4 closing this summer due the Cameron Lake Wildfire showed him that there is a \u201cdesperate need\u201d for a second route to west Vancouver Island. But he was cagey about when it might be announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could announce a timeline today, I absolutely would,\u201d he said, adding that the government put \u201csignificant resources into the existing road to make it safer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The premier said that a new route is a \u201cpriority for government\u201d but some proposed routes aren\u2019t technically possible due to slopes through the mountains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anything, all of our minds were sharpened about the need for a second route after the disaster this summer,\u201d he told the audience.<\/p>\n
Eby also addressed the ongoing toxic drug public health emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe've lost almost 13,000 people since the public health crisis was declared in 2016, to overdose,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that number conceals the larger bit of the iceberg which is the people who survive overdose with serious brain injury that either impairs their executive function, and they're still wandering around downtown, or that requires them to be in the care of the government for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eby said that treatment programs in the province are facing a staffing shortage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our biggest challenges is the skilled professionals to deliver those treatment programs, the social workers, the addictions doctors, the nurses who are experts in this area,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we have a Health Human Resources Strategy training up those professionals to be able to open more programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nanaimo City Coun. Hilary Eastmure said what stood out for her was what Eby didn\u2019t talk about.<\/p>\n
\u201dBecause of the toxic drug crisis, he highlighted [that] we've had 13,000 deaths, and we're still not talking about a regulated safe supply,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we still have toxic drugs on the streets that are killing people at wild rates.\u201d<\/p>\n