Nimbyism seems to never go away. One thing we've been trying to do in New Brunswick, which has been successful across Canada in varying degrees, is called the inclusionary zoning method. Let's say you have a subdivision of a certain size. The municipality will say that a certain percentage of that subdivision will be affordable housing. But to try to get that moving, we've been told in New Brunswick that the planning act has to be changed to give municipalities the power to do that. To address the whole NIMBY issue, we think the inclusionary zoning model makes sense.
Groups in New Brunswick have had some success engaging community members and neighbourhoods by basically extolling the benefits of affordable housing and showing that affordable housing, when put into a neighbourhood, can raise the standards of that community. We've tried to debunk some of the myths associated with affordable housing, such as myths that say the community will suddenly become a ghetto, or whatever.
We had a dentist, and a small affordable housing project was put into his neighbourhood, right next door to his office. We had him interviewed by the local paper. He said that after some reservations he welcomed the entrance of that project into the community. It's been very well run. I think that's the key. The projects have to be managed properly, with the people in the projects being provided the supports they need, and it goes from there.
The other thing is getting local councils and the local mayor on the same page in terms of wanting an affordable housing project, as opposed to fearing it.