Clifford Lee starts new job as special adviser for province's housing action plan

Clifford Lee's term as Charlottetown mayor won't end until November, but he has already started his work as special adviser for the province's housing action plan.

After announcing he wouldn't re-offer in this year's municipal election, Lee had four job offers, he said, including this one from the province.

"Because of my passion, because of my interest in housing, this was an easy choice for me to make," Lee told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

Will not handle possible conflicts

"Anybody who has followed my career over the last 30 years knows I've been involved in housing development throughout the city."

The province issued a statement on Friday that says while Lee is still mayor, he will not handle any situations where there could be a potential conflict of interest.

"Mr. Lee brings a wealth of knowledge to the topic, gained from his time as mayor and his career," the statement said.

3 levels of government on board

Asked about critics who say he didn't do enough for housing in Charlottetown, Lee said all three levels of government have to be engaged and that they currently are, with dollars.

"I think you've got the interest at three levels of government and it's a golden opportunity to make a lot of changes," Lee said.

"People are always going to be critical. The easiest thing in the world to do is to sit back and complain."

Reports to deputy transportation minister

Lee will work with several government departments, including Family and Human Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, Finance, and Communities, Land and Environment.

He will report to Darren Chaisson, deputy minister of transportation, he said.

"There's a desire to think outside the box," Lee said.

"What we've been doing for the last 30 years, quite frankly, obviously hasn't worked, or we wouldn't be where we are today." 

New approaches to housing

Some of the approaches being discussed now are things Lee hadn't heard about before, he said.

"When you talk about affordable, accessible homes, you always talk about rentals. Now we're talking about people can actually own their own homes," Lee said.

"We're looking at ways to allow people who may not have all the money in the world [to] own their home. There's nothing that says you have to rent from a landlord."

Tiny homes and the new five per cent down payment program are two ways of doing that, he said.

"We need some immediate wins in the short term, but you also need a long-term strategy."

Airbnb plays 'negative role'

Lee said the growth of Airbnb, a service that allows people to rent housing on a short-term basis, isn't helping matters.

"I think Airbnb has and continues to play a negative role in regards to affordable, accessible homes, no question about it."

But solutions in that regard aren't easy to find, he said.

"You can't say who can own a house, who can't own a house, and there's no sense coming in with rules that you can't enforce," said Lee.

"If you can't enforce them, then my view is let's not stop them. Let's just leave them alone."

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