Liberal government's proposed speculation tax falls short

By John Horgan, leader, B.C. New Democrats
Special to The Post

 

It doesn’t matter where in the world home-buyers are from, and where they are citizens.

It’s speculative investment that’s driving up home prices in the Lower Mainland and in other areas of the province. Whether that money is coming from China, from the U.S., from Russia, from the United Kingdom, or from anywhere else in the world, the effect it has is exactly the same: as large amounts of money from around the world flow into one housing market, prices skyrocket, and people who live and work there can’t keep up.

Collecting citizenship data doesn’t tell you anything about speculative investment in this province.

It doesn’t tell you whether buyers plan to live and work in their new homes, or whether they plan to let them sit empty. It doesn’t tell you whether they are beginning new lives in British Columbia, or whether they are just parking their money in B.C.’s real estate market.

The government is asking the wrong question, and as a result, we’re not learning anything about the real problems driving our housing crisis.

 The BC Liberals don’t agree. They want to ignore the big money flowing into our housing market from around the world and talk about citizenship instead. And they’ve made it clear that they can’t tell the difference between wealthy speculative investors and citizens of other countries who want to build a life in this province.

The BC New Democrats continue to fight for real action to address B.C.’s housing crisis. I propose a speculation tax that would do two things: discourage the use of BC homes as safety deposit boxes for the wealthy, and raise money for affordable housing initiatives.

This tax would only apply to homeowners who do not pay their income tax in this province, and would have no effect at all on those who live and work in British Columbia.

I also propose a task force to fight fraud and money laundering in the real estate industry. BC families should not - nor cannot - compete with corrupt or criminal money when trying to buy a home.

As prices in the Lower Mainland continue to rise, displacing renters, forcing families out of the region, and ending the dream of home ownership for many, it’s long past time the BC Liberals addressed our province’s housing crisis.

This problem has nothing to do with citizenship and everything to with the money invested in this province by the world’s super-rich.

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