I have just finished reading the June 29 edition of the Yukon News, which arrived in the mail today. The article “Affordable housing for Whitehorse cancelled” has me puzzled and frustrated.
All the articles I have read and stories on the radio I have listened to report that housing is the base need when it comes to helping people out of the cycle of addictions and poverty. Traditionally a rent of one-third of a person’s income is the reasonable amount to be charged.
Reading in the article that “the proposed government-subsidized units would rent for $900 per month,” had me exclaim, “What?!”
The government of Yukon can either subsidize housing for its low-income/no income population, or it can pay that money out in health-care and judicial system costs. It’s as simple as that.
Lynn Martin
Victoria, B.C.