Join the E-Newsletter – Notes on City Council

Coastal Affordability

Affordability, good wages, and income security all go hand in hand. People need good paying jobs to support quality of life and to meet their basic needs. People also need prices to be affordable. And people need income security to make ends meet and to plan for the future. For seniors and other people on limited or fixed incomes, affordability ensures a good quality of life.

Prince Rupert can support affordability by building and maintaining infrastructure that attracts the businesses that provide good jobs, keeping fees and taxes as low as possible (while still investing in quality of life and economic prosperity), adopting pro-growth building strategies to get affordable housing built for people of all income levels, and ensuring that our city is a safe, welcoming, fun, and friendly place for all to live and work.

Good Jobs and Income Security

Good paying jobs pay family wages and make needed essentials affordable. Good jobs are jobs that come with job security, allowing people to make long-term economic decisions for themselves and their family. Secure jobs support a broad tax base, which helps pay for the services and infrastructure that we all rely on.

In short, good jobs, and other forms of economic security (pensions, employment insurance, disability payments, and income assistance), make life affordable and are an essential part of our local economy. This is especially important for seniors and others on fixed incomes.

Good jobs come from all types of employers — from small business to big business, public to private employers, and everything in-between. Effective social safety nets provided by governments help too, including the safety and security that employment insurance, disability assistance, economic assistance, child and family benefits, public and private pensions, and universal access to quality health care (including mental health care) provide. A balanced economy is based in diverse employers, diverse means of income supports, and a multi-generational community that cares for everyone within it.

• Focus on economic growth — including by increasing the population and by focusing on helping young families and older residents stay in Prince Rupert through good paying entry level (career path) jobs (resource and trade sectors), affordable senior and family housing, quality health care, community safety, and attracting and retaining good paying jobs to Prince Rupert and neighbouring communities
• Support the development of all sizes of businesses — including craft industries and innovation (focus on value added, local and unique crafts and technologies for export)
• Focus on services — better connect consumers and producers and provide access to a competitive market for basic services
• Be intensely local — help government agencies locate programs (such as training and education) that build on our unique location and regional resources (become a leader in programs at the scale that our community is especially suited for)
• Make life affordable for seniors and others on fixed incomes — low taxes, low fees, investments in infrastructure, removal of barriers, and access to reliable services, which are open and available to all income levels, are essential ingredients of a strong economy for a strong community
• Work with schools, colleges and the public library to increase trade, craft, and professional training that is based in Prince Rupert and other coastal communities in the region

Healthy Competition and a Strong Market

Costs are the other side of the “affordability coin” — especially the costs of meeting basic needs such as groceries, water, housing, heating, transportation, childcare, education, and health care.

Local governments don’t have a lot of control over the costs of things like groceries, heating, transportation, childcare, education, and health care. But local governments can foster competition and can support economic development that lowers costs and helps increase incomes. Municipalities can also be a voice for residents — working with all levels of governments to enhance the overall quality of life for city residents by advocating for competition, low prices, and accessible services.

Strong markets — including markets based on competition, innovation, and free-enterprise — can help keep costs affordable for many of the things that we need or want. Local government can support competition by providing good basic infrastructure, setting zoning regulations with competition in mind, and coordinating with training programs and government service provides to support new business development in our community.

Local governments build and maintain infrastructure (roads, sewer, water), maintain safety (police, fire, by-law enforcement), regulate land use and zoning (supporting housing supply), and provide many quality of life programs at the local level (parks, recreation, festivals, community groups, public library).

These, and other local programs, play a role in supporting the overall affordability of living in Prince Rupert — by contributing to housing prices, quality of life, and taxes/utility fees. The City of Prince Rupert therefore has a responsibility to providing quality services, maintaining valuable infrastructure, and keeping taxes and fees low for all residents.

A balanced economy, with both public universal provision of things like health care and education, and private-sector delivery of things like affordable housing, food, transportation, and services, works best by removing roadblocks to innovation, increased (healthy) competition, and common-sense regulation of utilities and other essential industries. Getting this balance right matters to keeping prices affordable – while maintaining supply at the level of demand.

• Low taxes, low fees, and low amenities charges — local government should keep taxes and fees low by focusing on doing its main jobs well: Keeping the community safe through fire, police, community safety officers, and other first responders, building and maintaining infrastructure (including roads, water, and sewer), running shared services for property owners, businesses, and residents, and keeping community centres (parks and recreation) open and accessible
• Focus on housing supply — work with public (all levels of government), private, and public-private builders to expand housing supply for families, including subsidized housing and senior housing
• Increase competition for groceries and focus on quality and prices — we depend on truckers, retailers, farmers, and other suppliers to feed our town. But we can’t be priced out of food security — healthy competition is one way to keep prices low. Farmer’s markets, a fish and seafood market, direct to consumer models, cooperatives, local green houses, and community gardens can support food security and low prices for all
• Increase competition for air transportation and focus on quality and prices — we rely on the local airport and should work with the federal government to improve quality and lower prices
• Work with all levels of government and work regionally to solve the health care crisis (primary care providers and access to emergency care) — The doctor shortage, health care staffing shortage, and lack of services is unacceptable and the BC government needs to fix the system
• Continue to fix the city’s aging infrastructure — continue to work with all levels of government to provide funding and other supports to make this happen

Image Source: Miko Fox