British Columbia's government plans to rely on free enterprise rather than public subsidies to house the province's poor.
Under a plan to be announced Tuesday, the government would make direct payments for use in any housing. There are reportedly about 14,000 people on the waiting list for subsidized housing in B.C.
The move has echos of the push in the U.S. for school vouchers and private-sector charities to take over government functions. It sets up another political battle in B.C., where the government has been privatizing services and cutting costs by closing schools and hospitals. Critics say that the government already has undermined the poor by cutting welfare payments so that private-sector housing is unaffordable.