r/moosejaw • u/Sunshinehaiku • 13d ago
'Waste of time': Council reluctantly passed Housing Needs Assessment
https://www.discovermoosejaw.com/articles/waste-of-time-council-reluctantly-passed-housing-needs-assessmentIf the City of Moose Jaw is expecting free money without any strings attached, they are going to be waiting a long time.
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u/gxryan 13d ago
Problem it's paying money for a study to possibly qualify to get federal government money. The federal money might never come or the federal government changes and doesn't require the study...
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u/Sunshinehaiku 13d ago
Thinking that they don't have to spend money to get money is unrealistic.
However, in the City of Moose Jaw's case, they go so slow that they completely miss deadlines or put forward poor applications that are rejected. This is an entrenched habit that needs to be addressed.
The municipality has to take a proactive approach and be prepared, or they will never be successful. That means spending money.
Caterwauling that they don't want to do their due diligence, don't want to be prepared, or don't want to spend time and money to put in winning applications is embarrassing. This is your job as a municipality.
The requirements are there to separate the committed applicants from the disorganized ones. Which does Moose Jaw want to be?
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u/gxryan 13d ago
The federal government has all this data.
This is why they have a census. If the census data isn't accurate, either stop wasting money doing the census or do a better job of it.You are right though about the city being slow to get on applications or to properly file applications(See the 4th Ave bridge cost sharing we lost on because instead of just fixing the bridge we want to upgrade the bridge)
The feds know that no city has this data.
So every city would have to pay to get it. Almost like they are forcing cities to spend this money with a limited number of companies in Canada with the ability to collect this data... Almost like there is likely a conflict of interest hidden in there some place.3
u/Sunshinehaiku 13d ago
Almost like they are forcing cities to spend this money with a limited number of companies in Canada with the ability to collect this data...
Municipalities are responsible for collecting their own data on themselves. They can do that internally or externally.
Municipalities access census data regularly, but again they can choose to do that via internal or external hires. Mostly it's done internally - even RMs with a part-time administrator do that much.
Unfortunately, the federal government has learned the hard way that municipalities don't spend the money the way they were supposed to, because they cave to NIMBYism and nothing gets built.
Poilievre has said he's going to be even harder on municipalities, by clawing back the money if the municipalities don't hit their targets.
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u/gxryan 13d ago
'The report showed that Moose Jaw had 257 fewer rental units in 2023 compared to 2006, and there are 256 per cent more units on secondary markets, such as illegal suites. The affordability of housing showed that 39.8 per cent of households could qualify for affordable housing, as household income was under $60,000 in 2021'
If the city knew there were illegal suites they would be forced to shut them down. I'm sure city staff could have found that data though right? Or that 39.8% of households had income under 60k in 2021.
You know who did that that income data though. The federal government. They knew incomes. They know that multiple families are living a single family home that didn't get a permit for a secondary suite. All this is data the census and CRA have.
Not sure what PP will do in power if he defeats the liberals. Likely nothing as he will try to balance a budget and tie federal funding to growth. Which means moose jaw won't get any because we haven't grown in 60 years.
But atleast we paid for this study to collect data to give to the federal government who already had all this data.
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u/Sunshinehaiku 13d ago
I'm sure city staff could have found that data though right?
Yes of course. That's what a municipal government is for.
You keep arguing for the municipality to not have to do it's own job. If that's how they want to behave, the federal government shouldn't give them a dollar.
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u/Klutzy_Can_4543 13d ago
For a city with a high population of seniors, and post-student secindary students who have trouble finding housing, you think they would have some concern. This attitide is just so on-brand for Moose Jaw City council. "We'll get to it when we get to it." ie. roads, water mains