Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says it's time for Victoria to start thinking creatively about Victoria's housing crunch.
Mayor Helps speaking with Mark Brennae says she's wide open to new ideas when it comes to Victoria's Housing crunch.
Helps indicated the Songhees and Esquimalt first nations own 6 acres of land at Government and Pembroke Street and she's interested in working with them to help house, workers, and people who are struggling to find accommodations. "I don't know how costly it would be to bring in some work type Atco trailers for people to live in. You're going to sleep there but after work, you're going to have a beer somewhere on Johnson street and you're probably going to have something to eat downtown and on the weekend you're going to go back to your family."
Victoria has a number of long-term construction projects but workers who come here from away find it difficult to get affordable accommodations as the cities vacancy rate is at .5 percent.
"This situation's not going to change for the next five years so if we do nothing to solve it we're going to be in the same type of labour slash housing shortage we're in for the next 5 years and as Mayor, that's not good enough for me."