This above photo of outgoing Mayor Michelle Staples, Mayor elect Michael McKinlay and Duncan Councillors Tom Duncan and Carol Newington at the UBCM convention with Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, was posted on the City of Duncan Facebook page on 16 September 2026.
The text accompanying the Facebook post read:
“This morning, members of Duncan Council met with Honourable Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs (pictured centre), at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention to discuss opportunities to establish new recovery-focused supportive housing and long-term funding support for existing low-barrier housing like The Village.
Both low barrier and recovery-focused housing are important components of the housing continuum and are needed to support neighbourhood integration and improved outcomes for individuals transitioning away from homelessness.”
An important question Duncan voters need to consider in the 17 October 2026 municipal election is whether the City of Duncan should prioritize “new recovery-focused supportive housing” and “low-barrier housing”.
We also need to define what is meant by phrases such as “neighbourhood integration”.
Duncan already has several projects for “individuals transitioning away from homelessness.” These include The Villages on Trunk Road (mentioned in the Facebook post above). the BC Housing project on White Road and the former Ramada Inn on the Trans Canada Highway.
All of these projects prioritize housing for addicts or recovering addicts.
While that may be necessary one has to question whether Duncan, with three such existing projects already, needs to “establish new recovery-focused supportive housing” developments.
Should we perhaps be talking more instead about promoting rental housing in Duncan for workers, young adults starting out in life, seniors and others in need of housing but who are not addicts or recovering addicts.
It seems these people, for whom there is a definite shortage of rental housing, are far too often overlooked in local government discussions about housing. They are certainly not mentioned at all in the City of Duncan Facebook post above.
I think we definitely should but that does not seem to feature in most local government discussions of housing.
If I am elected to City of Duncan Council I will definitely prioritize the rental housing needs of workers, young adults starting out in life, seniors and others in need of housing but who are not addicts or recovering addicts.
Just FYI, here are some videos I posted about housing when I ran for Duncan Council in 2022:
I will post some updated videos on housing in the near future.