Alberta should be putting some of this year's $7-billion surplus into affordable housing, a clergyman told a committee that is travelling the province looking into the issue.

During one of two public meetings in Calgary Wednesday, United Church Rev. Bill Phipps told members of the affordable housing task force that society has a moral obligation to provide housing.

"Calgary is one of the wealthiest and highest-educated cities on the planet. And I think you should know that because Calgary also has one of the highest rates of growth in homelessness on the planet."

Real estate values and rents have soared across the province in recent years, leading to worries Alberta will be less attractive to workers desperately needed to fill labour shortages.

At the end of 2006, Calgary had a vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent and the average price of a home at the end of February was $391,000 compared with $304,000 a year earlier.

Less resources for the homeless, says former street person

J.B. Groves, one of dozens of people who waited to speak during Wednesday night's meeting, said 15 years ago he was living on Calgary's streets. Many of the agencies and programs that helped him with affordable housing no longer exist, he said.

"Through a variety of social agencies I broke the cycle of homelessness. Most of those factors aren't an option for people that might have found themselves in the same situation as I was."

Income tax credits should be available for groups willing to build affordable housing units, he said.

Oil and gas companies that invest in Alberta's booming oilsands should also contribute money for a supply of affordable homes since they are helping to create the demand for housing, said Groves.

The Alberta government is open to all suggestions, said Calgary Conservative MLA Len Webber, chair of the 16-member task force.

"No guidelines, everything is wide open," he said.

"We're here to listen to the people of Alberta, get their ideas and their solutions, and then bring it to the table and work from there."

The task force, which is travelling across the province, will present its report to the government later this month and a formal response is expected by June.