Calgary – Dave Taylor, Alberta Liberal Shadow Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, today wrote Minister of Municipal Affairs Ray Danyluk with a proposal to help protect life and property from house fires.

Taylor admitted the government had finally done something about making building codes stricter and reducing the risk that future homes will catch fire. Taylor also noted that the government must help citizens upgrade their existing homes to the same safe standard.

“I am concerned about the fire safety of some of the province’s existing home inventory – specifically, those homes that have been built with vinyl siding but without fireboard barriers, and those that are less than a metre away from adjacent property lines. These homes are still at risk,” Taylor wrote. “What steps will the government will take to ensure that these existing homes will be retrofitted to meet the new fire code?”

Taylor is calling for home owners to bring their houses up to the new standards when Albertans renovate their homes.

“We could encourage safety renovations by bringing forward an Alberta home renovation tax credit for home owners or companies that renovate to bring homes up to the new grade,” he says. “And it’ll create some worthwhile economic activity.”

“I don’t want to set the world on fire,” Taylor quipped, “I just want to light a bit of a fire under the government’s feet to make all homes in Alberta safer.”

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Letter to Minister Danyluk

For more information contact:

Dave Taylor
Shadow Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs

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