Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Norm Letnick

Kelowna-Lake Country Liberal MLA Norm Letnick went from health critic in 2020 to the non-partisan role as assistant deputy speaker after the NDP were re-elected that year.

Now, with a new party leader in Kevin Falcon – who won the leadership race on Saturday – Letnick has no extra duties in the shadow cabinet.

“I asked to not have a critic role so I can focus on leading the initiative for more entry level housing, specifically,” Letnick told iNFOnews.ca today, Feb. 8.

Falcon appointed his shadow cabinet yesterday, with Todd Stone, who represents Kamloops – South Thompson, being named as House Leader and critic for Jobs, Economic Recovery, Trade and Innovation.

Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield, who also ran for the leadership, was named environment critic. Dan Ashton (Penticton) is the Municipal Affairs critic, Peter Milobar (Kamloops North Thompson) is Finance critic and Ben Stewart (Kelowna West) is critic for Transportation and Infrastructure.

Last fall, Letnick announced he was considering running for mayor of Kelowna in this fall’s municipal election. In January, he said he would not run.

Many of his supporters talked about the need for affordable housing in the city so, instead of running for mayor, Letnick said he would focus on a non-profit housing society he set up to bring entry level housing to the city.

READ MORE: MLA Norm Letnick won't be seeking Kelowna mayor's job in fall election

That’s the Ye Ye Housing Society (Ye YE means grandfather) and he is its president.

It’s modelled after a society he ran in Banff in the 1990s that, he said, brought 200 housing units to that city over five years at 25% below market prices.

Letnick wants to focus on getting the society’s first project – a 20-unit “stacked” townhouse development – to city council.

“Part of the duties of an MLA are to deliver on the needs of your local community and, I would say, entry level housing is one of the most pressing needs of my constituents, as they keep telling me,” Letnick said. “I see that, also, in my life in the Okanagan and it was part of my campaign platform in the last election to increase entry level housing.”

Having said that, he had to take some time reading through his platform before he found a reference to affordable housing.

The housing project has a .42 acre piece of land to build on. It will include 10 ground floor accessible units and 10 on the second and third floors. All will have outdoor access, he said.

Once that “flurry” of activity is over and Falcon gets a seat in the Legislature, Letnick expects there to be a “more permanent allocation” of critic portfolios and he will likely be included.

The B.C. Liberal leadership race was called after Andrew Wilkinson stepped down after losing the 2020 election. He has now given up his Vancouver-Quilchena seat so Falcon can get into the Legislature. The NDP have six months to call a by-election.

The Ye Ye Housing Society has a website where people can apply for the housing. It includes a tentative pricing list that starts at $220,771 for a one-bedroom unit and ranges up to $356,630 for three bedrooms.

A maximum income cap will be set for applicants. They will have to sign agreements that, when they sell, the society will get a share of any increase in value.

Letnick is hoping the society’s first project will serve as prototype for similar housing initiatives across the province.

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