The Opposition NDP says the federal and provincial governments have changed the way they fund northern housing — at the expense of municipalities.
Athabasca MLA Buckley Belanger says lost in all the affordable housing announcements last week was the detail that northern municipalities can now be on the hook for half the cost.
Belanger says that never used to be the case — and the north’s cash-strapped municipal governments are accepting this because they’re so desperate for housing.
“The mayors themselves have no choice because they know how desperate the need for housing in some of their communities is. So, they’ll do what they can — they’ll make the decision that they can and they will take any particular money left on the table in terms of the approach that the senior levels of government have with them.”
But Belanger also wonders if there will be some northern residents that will be left out because their local governments absolutely can’t afford to fund half the cost.
SaskHousing Corporation president Don Allen says this is just one idea that’s being used for northern housing.
Allen adds some other approaches are heavily subsidized by the government.