Denman Island Housing Advisory Planning Commission Final Report - November 3, 2023

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Denman Island Housing Advisory Planning Commission 
 Final Report 
 November 3, 2023 

 Preface 
 Everyone is welcome at this table as we work to increase the  availability  of 
 non-precarious affordable  housing on Denman Island  where  ecological sustainability  is 
 a shared high value. We have begun every meeting with this: 
 First of all - We respectfully acknowledge that  Denman  Island (called Taystay’ich by the 
 K’omox First Nation) is the traditional territory of members of the Coast Salish and 
 Kwakwa
̱
ka
̱
ʼwakw peoples. 
 and 
 In 2019 Canadian law first recognized that the right to adequate housing is a 
 fundamental human right through the passage of the National Housing Strategy Act. 
 The Act recognizes that housing is essential to people’s inherent dignity and well-being, 
 and is essential to building sustainable and inclusive communities. 
 Unkind and prejudiced comments are not conducive to a just and sustainable society. 
 Women, LGBTQIA2S+ folks, people with disabilities including mental illnesses, young 
 parents and other persons are protected under the Human Rights Code and they will 
 not be exposed to discriminatory comments or conduct during these committee 
 meetings. 
 All community members, businesses, social support groups, Local Trust Committee, the 
 CVRD and provincial and federal partners have an interest in seeing people adequately 
 housed. Every person has a seat at our table. The Denman Island Housing APC is 
 committed to doing our part to find and recommend changes to our Official Community 
 Plan and Land Use Bylaws to support housing. 
 We are grateful to all of the community members who came each week to sit at our 
 table and share their ideas, visions and fears about housing. As long and detailed as it 
 is, this report is for you. We hope that as you read it you find words that may have been 
 yours, and others that shine the light forward, to bring our community safely home. 
 We most especially want to thank our Island Trustees (now and in the past) who gave 
 us this opportunity to define changes our community so desperately needs. While the 
 nature of invisible housing need can make it easy to ignore, our current Trustees have 
 engaged courageously with trying to find solutions. 
 We believe we have some (not all) answers in this report and we hope our Trustees are 
 able to bring these seeds to fruition - in the form of bylaws that support health at home 
 in our community on this precious island, during these interesting times. 
 Housing APC Members: Riane da Silva, Richard Day, Alan Friesen, Virginia Spinney 
 2 

 Table of Contents 
 Glossary  .........................................................................................................................................  4 
 Section  1:  Executive  Summary  ..................................................................................................  5 
 What  is  the  Denman  Housing  Advisory  Planning  Commission  (HAP

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