I’ve been disappointed with the action (or lack thereof) from the provincial government on the housing crisis.
This crisis is depleting our current and future base of taxpayers, who are leaving Metro Vancouver fast. Our young people are the first generation that cannot afford to live in the city they grew up in.
Our beloved city of Richmond has been one of the first and hardest hit.
The average value for a single-family dwelling in Richmond? $1.7 million.
What are the results of the crisis so far? Vanishing neighbourhoods, closing schools and an emptying sense of community.
So, what’s happened? It took Premier Christy Clark and Finance Minister Mike de Jong more than a year to flip-flop on real action to tackle the housing crisis.
Caving to pressure from the Official Opposition and the public, they recently announced a 15 per cent tax on foreign nationals buying real estate here.
Yet, loopholes in the legislation have already been found and there are numerous complications it causes in the marketplace.
Of course, they rushed so quickly that they forgot to wait for their taxpayer-funded study on the effects of foreign ownership on affordable housing in Metro Vancouver.
The provincial government was similarly late to the party on other causes of the crisis, such as tackling money laundering and shadow flipping.
Whenever Clark announces some sort of action, it’s always weak and it’s always late.
Why is this? Keep in mind that B.C.’s economy is built on the housing crisis.
Looking at April’s statistics, the largest gain in the B.C. economy was in construction, specifically real estate.
Forestry, resources, manufacturing and fishing all took major hits in B.C. This has been a common trend in B.C.’s economy of late. So, when you hear Clark boasting about B.C.’s economy, it’s the housing crisis.
It’s the home down the road that’s being torn down and turned into a “megahome.”
It’s the school in your neighbourhood that’s about to close.
So, if you’re wondering why Clark is so late on action all the time, the reason is politics.
All Clark and the BC Liberals have are the economy. An economy built on the housing crisis and a budget balanced on the property transfer tax.
They’re asking you to forget about the scandals, the failure of LNG, the rising provincial debt, the underfunding of public education, the unneeded $9 billion Site C Dam, the escalating Hydro, MSP and ICBC rates — and everything else that is crushing the middle class in British Columbia.
Now, keep this other fact in mind: The BC Liberals’ chair of fundraising is none other than B.C.’s wealthiest real estate marketer, Bob Rennie.
Often dubbed “B.C.’s Condo King,” Rennie has led the charge in making sure Clark and the BC Liberals has its fair share of developer and oil and gas donors to fund themselves through another nasty election campaign.
But these donors want the gravy train called the housing crisis to continue. Any trend slightly downwards in demand will hurt their pockets and subsequently, their ability and willingness to continue contributing to the BC Liberal Party. See where I’m going here?
We do need an increased supply of housing units. But there are two sides to the economic equation.
We need to curb demand and increase supply simultaneously. There have been numerous recommendations, by the Official Opposition in the BC Legislature, by economists, and by real estate experts.
All of these recommendations are things that have been suggested over the last few years and scoffed at by the BC Liberal Government — who then flip-floped just a year later.
The fact that Richmond isn’t considering a vacancy tax yet is mind-numbing.
The latest statistics show that 20 per cent of new real estate transactions in Richmond are from overseas.
A sizeable chunk of these are for vacation homes and investment properties that will lay dormant for most of the year.
Depending on your neighbourhood, these already exist and are increasing in numbers.
This does no good to the local economy. The results will come quickly — schools closing, businesses shutting down and neighbourhoods vanishing.
The least that could be done is having these homes do short-term sublets, but you can’t force that on someone.
It’s in Richmond’s best interests to take action on purposely empty homes, so that we can keep our neighbourhoods vibrant.
What happened to governments that seized crises and showed real leadership to tackle them?
Governments respond to you and I making a stink about things. As U.S. President Barack Obama once said, the most important office is the office of citizen. It’s me and you. It’s us speaking up and speaking out.
We need action, but it starts with us. Be active now and be active come election time. Take these issues to the polls and make your voices heard.
Ramesh Ranjan is on the board of directors at the West Richmond Community Association, The Heart of Richmond AIDS Society and the Richmond Youth Service Agency.
