MLAs on P.E.I.’s public accounts committee will be tackling the province’s housing challenges by calling three witnesses who deal with the issue.
During a recent meeting, the MLAs agreed to ask Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) director Jennifer Perry, provincial director of housing services Sonya Cobb and special advisor of the province’s housing hub Clifford Lee to appear before the committee.
After the MLAs agreed housing was the committee’s top priority, Borden-Kinkora MLA Jamie Fox said he thought bringing in IRAC was key.
Housing is a social problem that involves several government departments, Fox said.
“The thing I see here is we have IRAC, who is an independent body, and they’re the ones who are actually making decisions on what rate increases are seen at the door of an apartment,” he said.
Fox said that organization is not consulting with other departments when they approve or disapprove rate increases.
Charlottetown-Parkdale MLA Hannah Bell said having a broader discussion about the housing issue is important.
Montague-Kilmuir MLA Al Roach agreed.
“There’s so many different areas that have an effect on this,” he said.
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