Nice to see housing affordability at top of MHA Stoyles’ priority list

Letter to the Editor

I read with great interest the recent article about MHA Lucy Stoyles and her quest to make life more affordable in the January 20th edition of The Pearl. 

I have to admit that it was very refreshing to read through her priorities as a local provincial representative, and see the cost of rental housing, her efforts alongside Seamus O’Regan to address the dangerous trend of reverse mortgages, and attacking predatory lending head first. As a long-time poverty prevention activist in the housing and homelessness sectors, I am encouraged to see local politicians in an otherwise affluent district not forgetting about those who risk slipping through the cracks. Rising property values and a growing real estate market share have long been considered a matrix for economic success, without truly comprehending the potential for long-term damages to those already struggling.

Let’s keep this conversation going.  This is a beautiful place to live, and wouldn’t it benefit us all if others could share in that opportunity for prosperity and afford to call Mount Pearl home.

Leigh Bursey

Chartered Housing Professional

Member At Large, Canadian Housing Renewal Association

Lead Organizer, Mount Pearl Streetfriends