A commentary by a professional engineer and professional ­geologist who worked on Bay Street in Toronto for a decade. He lives in Oak Bay.

The housing affordability crisis is impacting all facets of our society.

The evidence of this emergency can be seen everywhere in our communities, from the growing number of unhoused on our streets to the monstrosities springing up in our residential neighbourhoods.

We’re told that this is a supply crisis and the solution is to simply cut red tape, to water down regulations and to just let developers build. Basically, we just need to get out of the way and get with the program.

When laid bare, the argument comes down to: without the onerous government oversight, developers will flood the market with so many $2 million houses that they will become $500,000 houses. We all know this is ridiculous.

Yet this fiction is effectively being used as a blunt instrument to smash through our municipal representatives and people’s neighbourhoods.

In my case, in the Uplands neighbourhood, this sledgehammer is being directed down my street for a six-unit luxury development at 2830/2850 Lansdowne Rd.

According to the........

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