As we take our first few steps into 2012, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the year ahead.
The local economy is still clipping along at an incredible pace, the clean coal project at Boundary Dam will be ramping up this year and there is another major project scheduled for the Shand Power Station which will be announced in the near future. As well, businesses and developers from throughout the country are eyeing Estevan for various projects.
Unfortunately, the argument could be made that Estevan is nowhere near ready or capable of handling the influx of people expected with those projects, be it those that have already been announced or the ones companies are considering for the city.
Although the problem has been well known for years, Estevan enters 2012 with an ongoing housing shortage and there is little reason to believe it is going to improve in the near future. For that matter, the long-term prognosis isn't exactly rosy either.
As was recently reported in these pages, the vacancy rate for Estevan dipped to 1.3 per cent in October. Further to that, the report said renters in the Energy City pay far more on average than anywhere else in the province. For the sake of this discussion we'll set aside the price issue, although that is a major concern that will have to be addressed before long.
The bigger worry is the lack of rental accommodations and the lack of action on that front because if there is one thing that could kill the golden goose this is it. As far back as four years ago, local groups were sounding alarm bells about the housing shortage. Some groups even tried to do something about the problem, but those efforts ran out of steam and nothing of substance evolved.
It's now 2012 and there is still nothing happening. We would critique the provincial government response to the issue if there actually were one. It seems the government policy is similar to that of an ostrich; bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away. Sure, there have been the usual platitudes and even a study or two done but after five years in power the government of the day has yet to offer a genuine answer to the problem. And lest these comments be used for some political press release, the NDP government was not screaming hell when it came to housing either.
Their pathetic inaction has shifted the burden down the line to community groups, economic development agencies, municipal governments and chambers of commerce. Even though housing doesn't fall under their mandate, these groups have tried valiantly to find a solution. Unfortunately all we have gotten is more talk and more studies.
Most recently it was announced the Saskatchewan South East Enterprise Region is hiring a planner to study the housing needs in the area and yet another committee was being formed. The City of Estevan, as part of its involvement in the study, has agreed to put $5,000 towards the costs of hiring the housing planner.
It's tough to get excited about yet another study since it was around the same time last year when SSEER was in the midst of a survey of local businesses which centred around their housing needs. If that survey led to another study, what hope can we have that something of substance will come from this latest endeavour?
Simply put, the time for talk is done. If Estevan is going to reach the level many think it can, we need action and we need it now.
Why does study after study need to be completed when there are other communities in this country that have handled similar problems? Why are we into 2012 and still dealing with issues that should have been handled years ago?
Perhaps that question deserves a study.
