B.C. protest calls for more access to free air conditioning units for low-income renters

Economic justice advocates protested energy costs and unsafe living conditions in B.C. and across Canada this week as hot summer months approach.

A new national report by ACORN Canada shows that 44 per cent of low- and moderate-income tenants lack access to air conditioning, with the cost of energy being named as the primary cause.

The report comes as B.C.’s South Coast experienced temperatures as high as 30 degrees on Wednesday.

BC ACORN is calling on BC Hydro to cut red tape limiting who can access its free portable air conditioner program.

“If they just go back to what they had and say a landlord should not be the person that permits somebody to have a healthy home where the temperature can be livable for them,” said Monica Bhandari, chair of the New Westminster ACORN chapter.

In summer 2021, a heat dome ravaged B.C., killing more than 600 people.

“This is not even accounting for those that were potentially hospitalized for heat stroke, those who had to find other ways of dealing with it, or those who were literally just on the cusp and still had health risks,” said Bhandari.

Currently, BC Hydro’s free air conditioning program is only available to those in a regional health authority’s Home Care Program or Mental Health and Substance Use Program and have received a recommendation letter from their program.

In a statement to The Leader Spirit, BC Hydro said it plans to continue to make the program available to medically vulnerable customers by referrals from eligible health authority programs this season.

“This will ensure that medically heat-vulnerable individuals have access to safety cooling during extreme heat events.”

BC Hydro also noted that the province has invested a total of $30 million, and since launching the program, over 27,000 AC units have been installed from a target of 28,000.

“They have streamlined the criteria so that it’s a smaller group of people that would be helped by this program,” said Bhandari.

Bhandari adds that limiting who can get support for access to air conditioning or giving landlords the ability to say, “No,” will only hurt vulnerable seniors and people with underlying health conditions as the province heads into the hottest time of the year.