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OUR VIEW: Surrey’s politicians must make housing crisis a priority

A family on the verge of homelessness shouldn’t need to call the media before they get the help they so desperately need.
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Photo by Amy Reid Lesley Boggan and her dog Eddie in their Guildford basement suite. Boggan is facing eviction and has nowhere to go.

A family on the verge of homelessness shouldn’t need to call the media before they get the help they so desperately need.

But that’s what happened in the case of Lesley Boggan. Her family of three is days away from living on the streets after being evicted by the new owner of their basement suite.

Skyrocketing rent and low vacancy rates are a major part of the problem. But when you factor in Surrey’s growing infill development, this city is losing affordable housing at a rate that would easily label this issue a crisis.

And this crisis is putting immense pressure on our city’s services.

“Our shelter is full every night and we are turning people away,” Surrey Urban Mission Society’s Michael Musgrove told the Now-Leader. “Every other shelter I know of is full as well.”

We’re encouraged that when we told two of our local politicians – Vera LeFranc and Bruce Ralston – about Boggan’s plight, they both appeared to care deeply and seemed eager to help in any way they could.

This is what we should all expect of our elected officials, from all levels of government.

But clearly, something isn’t registering at the top.

This issue isn’t getting better. In fact, it’s getting worse.

People like Lesley Boggan need more than media exposure – they need homes.

Now-Leader