Chima Akuchie

Interview Response

Yes

The City of Calgary has a budget surplus. The City gives money as grants and loans to fix their homes, but not everyone has access to this money. He wonders why we can’t use this surplus for people who are in crisis. He does not understand why The CIty has elected to run a surplus budget instead. He thinks that people should have access to these funds and information on how to access it. For existing funding as well, he would like to see greater information sharing regarding how to access available funding.

Chima thinks that The City spends money organizing town halls to discuss housing developments. However, they do not listen to the opinions of the attendees. He says that the common man needs to be heard.

He wanted to clarify that he supports affordable housing. He noted that a lot of the houses being built are not affordable–we need to build, but we also need to make it affordable. For example, he feels insurance has become too expensive and is in favour of putting a cap on insurance costs.

Chima states that he is not opposed to rezoning but is opposed to blanket rezoning. He believes that land should be rezoned for not-for-profits. This would remove disputes between the community and not-for-profits. And he is in favour of removing red tape to build faster. As it relates to blanket rezoning, however, he does not believe that areas that are facing major development possess the infrastructure needed to support them. For example, Legacy is already dense; further density would create traffic issues on the exits. Instead, he believes that rezoning needs to be “balanced,” more should be built in areas where infrastructure is already in place (e.g., access to transit). Additionally, he believes that we need to “build out instead of in,” by which he means that we need more services and satellite towns spread around the city.

Survey Response

I believe in targeted support for renters in crisis, but it must be managed responsibly so it actually reaches those who need it most. I will work with nonprofits, churches, and housing providers who already support vulnerable Calgarians, making the system easier to navigate. I will push for quicker processing of rent supports during emergencies so families aren’t left waiting. I will advocate for partnerships with the province and federal government so the city isn’t carrying the burden alone. At the same time, the long-term fix is to increase supply where infrastructure is ready so rents come down naturally while protecting established communities from blanket rezoning.

Affordable housing land must be released responsibly, not through blanket rezoning. I’ll prioritize using serviced land first, zone higher density only near transit and services, and work with nonprofits and builders to deliver homes efficiently. That way we grow supply where it makes sense without raising taxes or straining infrastructure.

Erin Averbukh

Interview Response

Erin did not claim to know much about rent supports, although she was aware that they did exist. She thought that one possibility to support renters would be a pilot project to test whether rent control was effective. She thought, if it could help people be stabilized in homes, it would be worth trying.

Erin feels that there needs to be socio-economic blending within the city: we have to have affordable housing mixed with higher cost housing. Additionally, there should be regulations to prevent developers from inflating the cost of housing.

Erin thinks low income and greater density needs to be appropriately located to suit the needs of those living there. She does not think that more low income development should occur where the infrastructure (i.e., c-trains) is lacking to support it. People should not be forced to take multiple buses and have an extended commute to get to their job just because they do not have the funds for a vehicle. She would “never claim to know everything,” but wonders why the City does not annex land by c-train stations (e.g., the area by Chinook) to build affordable housing. Why doesn’t the City look at what land is available and prioritize affordable housing in areas that are close to rapid transit and schools? She feels hopeful that the new councilors will be able to see the affordable housing issue with new eyes and come up with new ideas. She feels that this is an important issue because kids are not going to have the same advantage that previous generations did because the price of housing has risen but incomes have not risen proportionately.

Devin Elkin

Interview Response

Devin said that if we are serious about supporting renters and making housing affordable, we need to take action. For example, the City could and should require landlords to have business licenses. He felt that this should be the first thing to happen. Additionally, rent controls could be implemented easily. Additionally, he believes that better coordination among services are needed.

Devin stated that the elephant in the room is that all three levels of government need to come to an understanding of what it means to have affordable housing.

With regard to strategy, Devin focused on supporting the development of mixed price housing (i.e., both market and non-market units within the same building). He believed that there should be subsidies to encourage or mandate developers to build affordable units within the building. He does not believe that developers will be willing to build affordable units on their own accord so we need to motivate them to do so in order to meet our affordable housing needs.

He believes that we need more education and better conversations around our goals. He wants to initiate better conversations. He felt that affordable housing developers may have experienced pushback from the communities because they did not have the necessary conversations first.

With this issue as well, he feels that the City needs to take the issue seriously and act on it instead of just talking about the need. The City has a lot of land to build housing if they want to.

Landon Johnston

Interview Response

Landon feels that there is too much red tape around rent support. A lot of people are left on the desk. He has witnessed this. Waiting too long is too late for renters in crisis. This is a big issue for seniors. People have been talking to him about this while he has been canvasing. The funding is available but people cannot access it and the process is too stressful. The stress from navigating this process can negatively impact people’s mental health. “When I see something like this,” he said, “I don’t give up.” Adding that this was particularly true when it impacts taxpayers. Landon says he is a “big fan of cutting down the red tape” and wants to increase efficiency.

As it relates to building affordable housing, Landon would like them to be built and maintained responsibly. He is not always a fan of affordable housing because they can be “trouble”. He does not feel that Calgary Housing is doing the best job managing their affordable housing units. Affordable housing should be built in responsible places or maintained appropriately. And, he feels, neighbors should have a voice, people should have a voice, and we have to go by what the majority wants.

He believes that the government has not made it affordable to build housing. To make housing affordable, the City has to get out of the way of planning. Affordability starts with the government getting out of the way and zoning responsibly. He is concerned that, if affordable housing is built in neighbourhoods that are opposed to it, people living in the neighbourhood will move out of the city. He reiterated that, in order to make progress on building affordable housing, the government needs to get out of the way because, right now, Calgary has some of the worst processes in all of Canada. However, he thinks that, to build faster, we will have to work with the provincial and federal governments.

Sunjiv Raval

Survey Response

Yes

It can be done with builders, federal, provincial and city officials to get basic need style housing off the market grid or example program like rent to own.

It can be done with builders, federal, provincial and city officials allocation and our PM shows priority we can take that advantage.

Ryan Stutt

Interview Response

Yes

Ryan wants to try to make the process easier for renters. He mentioned that he would like to streamline the process or create a concierge service to help people navigate the process. He believes that people who have this type of stress should not be forced to navigate the hurdles of the existing system.

Ryan said that housing affordability is a key issue for him. Of the topics we brought to him, this was the most important to him. This issue is of utmost importance because so many people are on the brink of losing their homes. Furthermore, fixing housing does a lot for a wide variety of issues. He would like to see our City Council get the province on board with their goals. Additionally, he wants to help developers build more to increase the supply of housing and to ensure that there is a variety of housing types on the market. By doing so, we could lessen the cost of rent.
It was Ryan’s opinion that the problem of land rezoning should, in theory, be an easy fix—it is a critical issue and seems like it could be an easy fix. He added that he wanted to keep blanket rezoning because it will help build more homes. However, he thinks that The City should have educated the public more about why blanket rezoning is necessary. His focus would be on educating Calgarians on why we need blanket rezoning and to listen to citizens about their concerns about development in their neighbourhoods. He hopes that, with education and listening, developers and community members can reach solutions that are agreeable for both parties or they can at least feel that their concerns were heard.