Editor: I’d like to address a letter to the editor last week where a writer endorses the rezoning in Peaks of Grassi.
Why is housing targeted in this way? The real reason is most believe living costs in general are too expensive here in Canmore (i.e. Canmore is expensive). We want it to be as inexpensive as possible.
Since the true goal of the affordable housing bandwagon is to make living more affordable in Canmore, I’d like to propose that the writer immediately lower her prices on all organic produce by say, 20 per cent.
Since we need food even more than we need housing, I think food is too expensive and not affordable enough for most Canmorites.
But I need not single you out.
Let’s make Save on Foods and Safeway lower their food costs by 20 per cent as well. And force our restaurants to do the same. It’s our right to have things more affordable.
Then we need to move on to forcing the gas stations to lower their prices as well as our cable, phone, heating and gas.
Why stop there?
One of our biggest costs of all is water and sewer plus our property taxes (yes, renters, you pay those too). Let’s force the Town of Canmore to lower those costs as well, because if they do, we will be able to afford to live here much more easily.
But wait.
How will local companies afford to raise wages for their employees if they also lower their prices? And how will the Town be able to keep all of its employees at the wages they earn, if they lower the taxes and fees on us residents?
Reality check.
Building affordable housing in Peaks or anywhere else is no different than forcing you, letter writer, and every other merchant who sells to residents in Canmore, to lower their prices.
Does that really make sense? No?
I didn’t think so. And neither does affordable housing in Peaks or anywhere else for that matter.
Hugh Tafel,
Canmore
