Local renter faces 2nd eviction this year

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – The rental crisis hitting our region is causing headaches for many people, including one man being told he’s got to find a new home — for the second time in a year.

The situation is causing all sorts of uncertainty for Michael Blais, who’s been told the place he just moved into around Metrotown in June will be knocked down for a new development.

And it comes after he was told a few months ago to leave his rental unit in Coquitlam.

“We might have to go further out toward the Interior,” says Blais, who is also with the group ACORN. “Out to Maple Ridge, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, away from family members, away from our support networks.”

But he says others in the area are even worse off.

“The people who are the most vulnerable are the ones who are going to be hurt by this,” says Blais. “It’s not as hard for me as it would be for an elderly person or a new Canadian who has no community ties.”

Blais says he’ll have to leave the region if he doesn’t find affordable housing soon, and says he and his wife had planned to start a family — something they’re now putting off.

ACORN claims there has been an inappropriately low level of public consultation for new development in that area and says up to 8,000 renters could be permanently displaced.

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