Free air conditioners in B.C. a first step, but more still needed, advocates say

Following the announcement that some vulnerable British Columbians will be getting free air conditioners, advocates are saying it’s a welcome step that should be the first of many to protect people from extreme heat.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced details of the new program, with $10 million going toward BC Hydro to supply 8,000 air conditioners largely to lower-income seniors. The announcement came during the two-year anniversary of the deadly heat dome, during which 619 people died, many of whom were elderly and living on their own.

Read More: B.C. announces free air conditioners for some vulnerable people

Isobel Mackenzie, the province’s seniors advocate, says giving seniors equipment to stay cool is only part of the equation.

“It’s a very important first step and a very important part of the overall plan to protect vulnerable seniors that are living in their own homes during extreme heat,” she told CityNews.

“We also need the plan that will be moving some of these seniors to a setting for a few days where the temperature is cooler. For want of a better term, an ‘evacuation plan’ for those seniors for whom we can’t get them the air conditioning unit or the air conditioner won’t work in their particular setting.”

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While the majority of those who died in the 2021 heat event were seniors, there are advocates for another vulnerable population who say Tuesday’s announcement doesn’t go far enough.

Vince Tao, an executive with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, tells CityNews that the money announced for the air conditioners isn’t nearly enough.

“There’s 7,000 individuals approximately living in the Downtown Eastside alone. This is across the entire province — $10 million over three years — this is a drop in the bucket,” he said.

As part of the program with BC Hydro, people will have to apply for the free air conditioner to become eligible, which may require a medical assessment. Tao questions how the process will decide who gets the subsidized cooling equipment.

“People will have to prove with a medical assessment that they’ll die from being hot, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of … doctor’s note can say you’re a threat of dying. The mass death we saw two years ago, this was across the board,” he said.

“Frankly, it seems like too little too late.”

Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, says if the provincial government is looking to protect everyone from extreme heat, the strategy needs to go beyond just air conditioning.

“This is not something that we should be dealing with in a piecemeal sort of approach,” he said.

The professor says the province is lacking a “comprehensive plan” on climate change that considers factors other than keeping people cool, pointing out that air conditioning can actually make things worse.

“If the entire of population B.C. is air conditioning, do we need to think beyond hydro? And if that’s the way we’re going to go, then that’s problematic,” he said.

Dix said Tuesday the air conditioning program is one of many steps in the province’s fight against climate change and says the government is working on finding solutions that help everyone.

-With files from Michael Williams and Monika Gul