Co-op housing offers solutions

We have heard a great deal of discussion during the current municipal campaign, in Charlottetown, about the need for more affordable housing. While many candidates have addressed this issue with a range of possible solutions, they have overlooked the significant benefits of co-op housing.

I have lived in co-op housing on Westridge Crescent for 30 years. I have seen, first-hand, the many positive benefits it has brought to families and to the community as a whole. There are a number of other positive examples in Charlottetown, including Hensley Green, Kings Square,

Gateway, Renata, Islandview, Princely, Dawson, and the Pownal Square co-ops.

Housing co-ops offer affordable, community-oriented housing to more than a quarter million Canadians. The launch of a national housing strategy in 2017, brought renewed optimism to the co-op housing sector. It includes grants and loans to finance new construction and subsidy funding to house lowincome members.

During the campaign, the only candidate who took time to reach out to me and discuss how co-op housing can help meet the needs, was Philip Brown. He sat at my kitchen table for two hours and discussed the co-op housing model. He was very knowledgeable about the many

benefits of co-op housing and how it could help solve our housing crisis.

He has incorporated the co-op housing model as part of his platform, and I am very impressed with his commitment to address our housing crisis.

Barbara Dingwell,

P.E.I. director,

Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada