By Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As has been the case at virtually every all-candidates forum held across British Columbia – and all of Canada, for that matter – the issues of affordable housing and people experiencing homelessness were front and centre at a Penticton forum last week at the Cleland Theatre.

Four of the five candidates for the federal riding of Similkameen-South Okanagan–West Kootenay presented their mandates on affordable housing and homelessness to kick off the forum, which attracted a polite crowd of nearly 300 people on the evening of Apr. 9.

Conservative Party candidate Helena Konanz was unable to attend due to a family emergency, said Michael Magnusson, executive director of the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the forum.

Those running to replace retiring NDP Member of Parliament Richard Cannings included NDP candidate Linda Sankey, Liberal Party candidate Gloria Morgan, Green Party candidate Philip Mansfield, and People’s Party of Canada candidate Barry Dewar.

After two-and-a-half-minute opening remarks, each of the four candidates spoke about their vision and plans to create more affordable housing and reduce homelessness at the local, provincial, and federal levels.

“If elected, what specific actions would your party take to make housing more affordable?” Magnusson asked.

Morgan – a former RCMP officer, lawyer and Chief of the Splatsin First Nation – acknowledged that affordable housing has been one of the most pressing concerns she’s heard while campaigning.

“I’ve listened to your concerns, and we all deserve affordable housing,” Morgan said.

She recounted meeting a young man in his early 30s on the campaign trail, dressed in work gear, who told her he feared his children or grandchildren would “never be able to afford a house of their own.”

“This is an issue across Canada that must be tackled to provide hope to young Canadians,” she said. “I can’t make any promises if I’m elected, but I can tell you the Liberal Party has done some great things recently regarding housing.”

She pointed to the proposed Build Canada Homes (BCH) initiative and said she spoke to a woman who remembered post-war housing developments: “We’re promising 500,000 new homes. She said it’s doable – they did that after the war, and they can do it again.”

Morgan added that the Liberal Party supports more apprenticeship programs to help train workers for home construction and has committed to removing the GST on new homes priced under $1 million.

“I think those are really great initiatives,” she said.

Morgan emphasized she wouldn’t make empty promises, but her lived experience as a chief and a resident of a reserve has shown her the challenges of inadequate housing firsthand.

Sankey, the longtime executive director of the Penticton chapter of the Brain Injury Society of B.C., said housing advocacy has been a core part of her professional life.

“There are many reasons why housing needs to be addressed. One important one is that small businesses are struggling to find workers because people can’t afford to live where they work,” she said. “This is something I’ve heard again and again.”

Sankey criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre – claiming Carney is a landlord who raises rents, while Poilievre’s housing policies favour corporate builders over renters.

“Many folks in our communities are renters who won’t be able to afford housing if corporate landlords take over,” she said. “Families are having to choose between groceries, medicine, and rent. This has to stop.”

The NDP supports giving non-profits more funding to purchase affordable homes and would back first-time homebuyers with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation support, she said.

Dewar, a home builder in Osoyoos who previously operated the junior B hockey team, said addressing Canada’s housing crisis in under three minutes is “impossible.”

“The first thing is, the current government wants to create a Department of Housing,” he said. “Can you imagine what government-built houses would look like? I can’t even picture it.”

He recalled a developer who received subsidies to build 20 homes in an “affordable” subdivision, where the average home price was $800,000.

“Give me a break. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.

Dewar warned that a looming tariff war with the U.S. will only make materials like steel and lumber more expensive.

“We need to get our heads out of the sand and start moving in the right direction,” he said.

Mansfield noted that housing costs are outpacing inflation, worsening the affordability crisis.

“We want to tackle the problem at its root,” the Green candidate said.

“Large corporations keep buying up homes as investments and benefiting from real estate investment trust tax credits.”

The Green Party would ban corporations from buying single-family homes, eliminate unfair tax advantages, and crack down on money laundering in real estate, Mansfield said. Public housing should be affordable, defined as no more than 30 per cent of a person’s income.

Magnusson shifted the discussion to homelessness, noting it remains a critical issue locally and nationwide. Though housing delivery is primarily a provincial responsibility, the federal government plays a key role through funding and national strategies.

“If elected, what concrete measures would your party take to expand supportive housing and address the root causes of homelessness in our communities?” he asked.

Sankey said homelessness is a complex issue that often stems from health-related challenges.

“We need to support people with the issues that brought them to homelessness in the first place,” she said. “That includes feeding children in school, offering counselling, and helping struggling families.”

She emphasized the NDP’s commitment to ensuring adequate housing for those dealing with mental health, addiction, and trauma.

“It’s unacceptable that high school students in this riding don’t have a permanent roof over their heads,” she added. “This is part of why I’m running.”

Morgan also spoke from personal experience, growing up on a First Nation reserve and attending residential school.

“This is how many of my family still live,” she said. “It’s a complex problem, but together we can address it.”

She highlighted her volunteer work in food security and praised communities building tiny homes for the unhoused.

“We can look to government for affordable housing and healthcare, but I really believe we need leadership that understands the economics of getting people off the street and out of addiction.”

Dewar countered that relying solely on government funding isn’t the answer.

“What we really have is a problem in our soul,” he said. “When two parents are working and kids have nowhere to turn, they end up on the streets, turning to drugs. It’s all connected.”

Mansfield called homelessness a failure of modern society and said the Green Party would expand universal healthcare to include mental health.

“We’d bring healthcare and community services to where they’re needed,” he said. “There are thousands of skilled immigrants qualified to help who aren’t recognized by our system.”

The Green Party supports universal pharmacare and dental care, Mansfield added, along with stronger rehabilitation programs for those struggling with addiction.

“If we can offer housing with built-in support for vulnerable people, we can begin building a more sustainable community,” said Mansfield, who earned a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics from Yale University.

A professor at the University of Toronto and Simon Fraser University, he served as a software research scientist at Apple and at Google.

Other topics during the two-hour forum included healthcare access in rural areas, climate change, the ongoing U.S.–Canada tariff dispute, and leadership at the top of each party.

The federal election takes place on Saturday, April 28.

This article first appeared in the Penticton Herald.