The New Democrats (NDP) government needs to improve community engagement and consultation on supportive housing projects, according to the premier of B.C.
This was one of several promises B.C.'s NDP leader David Eby made to the Richmond community at Garden City Park on Tuesday afternoon as part of his campaign for the upcoming provincial election.
"One of the things that we need to do better on is ensure that when we're opening supportive housing in a community we have all the pieces in place in advance, not after it opens," said Eby.
"The only way we can do that in a meaningful way is if we're engaged with the community - something the Housing Minister has been clear didn't happen.
"It didn't meet my expectations either and that's something that we need to do better at ... going forward."
On Aug. 30, the B.C. Ministry of Housing announced the suspension of the 90-unit supportive housing that was proposed for a site at Cambie and Sexsmith roads.
Eby explained the decision wasn't political but was due to "concerns that inadequate work had been done with the community."
He added that the NDP government will still build supportive housing in Richmond, though it's unclear if it will be on the same site or somewhere else in the city.
"We also need to make sure that it's at the right site and it's got the right safeguards in place to minimize impact on neighbours... something we need to improve on," said Eby.
"It's not something we've done as well as we should have in responding to the homelessness crisis that we face across the province and the urgency of it, and we're going to make sure that we do it properly in Richmond."
The NDP government promises to continue building the new patient tower at Richmond Hospital, open more schools, build more affordable homes, lower rent prices, and make a billion-dollar private investment in hydrogen fuelling infrastructure in the Lower Mainland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Richmond NDP candidates Kelly Greene, Aman Singh, Henry Yao and Linda Li were present at Garden City Park as well.
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