Issues&ideas

EDITOR SEAN HITREC |

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017 |

THE VOICE

7

Students swing the vote

The Voice explores issues affecting B.C. students about to enter workforce

Owning a
house in
sight

The upcoming election
could determine future
housing affordibility

= By LAURA BROUGHAM

ome students may never be able
S to afford a house in Metro Van-

couver, which has led politicians
to make housing affordability a discus-
sion point in the B.C. election on May
9.

High housing prices have been a
major political issue across the Lower
Mainland over the past two years. Fi-
nancing an investment that can be in
the millions of dollars can seem out of
reach for students, who would like to
enter the housing market in the future.

Investing in real estate has led to an
increase in housing prices, according
to David Eby, Vancouver-Point Grey
MLA and BC NDP spokesperson for
housing. Eby said when houses become
an investment, it means everyday people
looking to buy houses to live in aren’t
left with many options.

The provincial Liberal government
has started a program to provide an in-
terest-free loan of up to five per cent of
the purchase price, according to Sonja
Zoeller, spokesperson for the ministry
of finance.

“The B.C. HOME Partnership Pro-
gram contributes to the amount first-
time homebuyers have already saved for
their down payment,” Zoeller wrote in
an email. “Almost 140 loan applications
have been approved since the program's
introduction in January, totalling $2.2
million.”

Eby said the home partnership pro-
gram misses the core of the problem,
and building affordable housing is the
best way to help.

“T think that’s such a misunderstand-
ing of where people are at right now
in terms of their finances,” Eby said. “I
think the solution to the housing crisis
is managing this quite toxic demand
we're seeing in our housing market, and
adding a supply of affordable housing
for people.”

In order to save for a house, you
should set aside money every month as
soon as you get paid, according to Lau-
rent Munier, financial advisor at Safe
Pacific Financial Inc.

“Pay yourself like any other bill that
you would pay,” Munier said. “As part
of your automated [payments] every
month [...] even if it's $50 a month, the
habit is the most important part.”

AVERAGE HOME PRICE
SINGLE DETATCHED HOMES

9 2010 $807,868
2011 $931,300
2012 $959,767
2013 $919,200
2014 $976,700
2015 $1,123,900
Y 2016 $1,561,500

SOURCE: METROVANCOUVER.ORG

= By SASHA ZEIDLER

uch like

lumbia’s

British Co-
expanding
economy, students are
looking outside of natu-

ral resources when

considering their
future jobs.
"[TB.C.]  seem[s]

to try and really
establish a more
diverse economy,”
said Deland Jessop,

business —_instruc-

tor at the Langara Kristy Carse
School of Manage- FINE ARTS STUDENT

ment. “We’re not
completely relying on the resources
anymore.”

Ee = EPS

Shipping and receiving, a mainstay on the coast of

B.C.'s future job market could depend on how students vote on May 9

Recon ==

In the upcoming B.C. election, young
people will be paying attention to see
what politicians have to say about em-
ployment and how this will affect their
future. For many, a diverse range of op-
portunity is what they are looking for.

"Committing all of our resources into
a particular area, such as non-renewable
energy, in order to get short term ben-
efits is incredibly short-sighted,” said
first-year Langara College sociology
and religious studies student Léonie
Armstrong. “Because that creates a
more unstable economy over the long
term, and a less adaptable economy."

Jessop said that although natural re-
sources are still the primary job sector
in B.C., tech and creative industries are
seeing a great deal of growth thanks to
social media and companies like Hoot-

B.C., won't be among the places many students will look

suite. He also noted the importance of
small businesses in B.C.’s economy.
First-year fine arts student Kristy

for jobs as they enter the market. sasHa ZEI0LER

looking out for trends, and remember-
ing that "Wherever there is crisis, there
is also a lot of opportunity.”

Carse would like -— u os > ‘If marijuana is
to see the same If marlyuana legalized for recre-
type of funding . . ational use and me-
small businesses 1S legalized for dicinal use, even if it’s
sever | recreational use |i mls a

“They could fe and medicinal use... industry Jessop said.
more grants for . ots of opportuni-
artists. Maybe in that’s going to be a ties for employment
the way of how . . ” as well as creating
for a small busi- maSSsive industry. your own jobs in that
ness, there is an | —pEgLAND JESSOP, LANGARA INSTRUCTOR | Space."

amount of money

you get when you open up,” Carse said.

“It could sort of be the same thing.”
With students already being drawn

to varying job sectors, Jessop suggests

— Students are look-
ing for variety, and if B.C. continues
to develop it’s current state after these
elections, they should have no problem
finding it.

Student

Even with a drop in

interest rates for B.C.
student loans, educa-
tion costs are still up

= By KURTIS GREGORY

he Langara Faculty Associa-
tion and some students aren’t
convinced that the B.C. gov-

ernment’s recent cut to student loan
interest rates addresses the cost of edu-
cation.

According to the provincial budget
released in late February, students will
now pay only half of the previous inter-
est rate. However, since the rising cost
of tuition was not addressed, students
will still be burdened with debt because
funding for post-secondary education
in the province has dropped by 20 per
cent in the last 15 years.

Niall Christie, an LFA representa-
tive and instructor at Langara, said the
change in interest rates hardly begins to
address the problem students face.

“The reduction of interest on student
loans is basically a drop in the bucket,”
Christie said. “It doesn’t address the

debt still not eased: LFA

root problem which is that you are go-
ing to be graduating with thousands of
dollars of debt.”

“The logical conclusion of this trend
is that we eventually get to the point
where the only people who can afford
to go to college and university are ex-
tremely rich.”

The B.C. government maintains that
going forward, 78 per cent of jobs in the
province will require higher education.
The LFA said that with high tuition
fees, the government is affecting the fu-
ture of students.

Langara intimately
aware of the increasingly unaffordable
nature of higher education.

“Some of my friends are in thousands
of dollars of debt from student loans,
and cutting the interest rates will be re-
ally helpful in getting their lives start-
ed,” said Michelle Roach, a general arts
student at Langara.

Other students are more cautious
about the extent to which the interest
cuts will help alleviate the burden of
debt.

“T feel like itll really take time to
know if that has helped or hasn’t, but if
it does help I guess it’s a positive move-
ment,” said Amanuel Wondie, a crimi-
nal justice student at Langara.

students are

Niall Christie, a history instructor at Langara, holds a medieval catapult as he
lobs comments about the BC Liberal Party. Kue7is GREGORY PHOTO