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There has been a lot of uncertainty in our community about the speculative tax proposed by the BC NDP. My office has received thousands of e-mails from all over the province on this subject. Recently, a group of constituents held a town hall where about 200 people were present. I have been able to hear many points of view and clarify my position as well as the measures taken by the Greens of British Columbia on this subject
Speculation tax will be proposed in a law that will be presented in the fall. In accordance with our trust and procurement agreement, the government consults our caucus on many issues. All of the contributions we provide to the government are aimed at producing an evidence-based public policy that will produce results that are in the best interest of the entire province.
The Greens of British Columbia told the government that we do not support the speculative tax because 1) it does not deal with speculation; 2) there are too many unintended consequences; 3) it is administratively heavy.
The tax on speculation covers two separate issues. The first is the vacant properties. The second is satellite families – families that pay little or no tax here in Canada
. The Greens of British Columbia have recommended several alternatives to the government on how to better manage the housing crisis. First, we suggested that the government enact enabling legislation to allow local governments to introduce a tax on vacant dwellings if they deemed it necessary for their communities. Victoria, for example, has asked for the power to introduce such a tax. Enabling local governments to introduce a tax on unoccupied housing is relatively simple. Legislative language already exists in the Vancouver Charter.
Three advantages of this approach are that the funds raised would remain in the affected community, its implementation would be highly targeted and the issue of double taxation in the Vancouver area would be addressed. If problems of vacancy or housing shortage are no longer a problem, local governments could also react quickly without the need for provincial legislation.
Another recommendation of the Greens of BC was to prohibit foreign purchases in secondary housing. market unless trade agreements prohibit it. New Zealand, for example, has excluded Australia from its ban on foreign purchases because of existing agreements.
In addition, we recommended the closure of the loophole and the introduction of a tax on real estate. The information we provided to the government about the speculation tax was that it should be as targeted as possible to counter speculative activity in the housing market. We also indicated that the government should strive to minimize the unintended consequences on people and activities that we do not want to target, without fundamentally compromising the impact of the tax.
The BC Green Caucus also raised a number of issues. . We pointed out that it made no sense to impose a vacancy tax on strata that had "no lease" clauses in their rules.
In areas that disproportionately shelter vacation homeowners (eg Cultus Lake prior to exemption), local economies depend on seasonal visitors and part-time residents. Therefore, the implementation of this tax would have negative consequences for these economies, which would probably outweigh the benefits. This remains a problem with the proposed inclusion of Kelowna and West Kelowna in the Speculation Tax.
We noted that in some areas, there is no significant rental market (for example, islands without ferry service). And we continue to fear that Canadians from different provinces will be treated differently. We remain convinced that all Canadians should be treated the same.
We look forward to seeing government law in the fall. We remain committed to our common goal of taking action to address the housing affordability crisis.
Andrew Weaver is the MP for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and leader of the BC Green Party
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