An unusual issue will likely be front and centre in the coming election campaign, but it’s not entirely clear how – or even if – it will impact the eventual result.
I’m referring to the red-hot housing market in Metro Vancouver, which was probably the most talked about issue during the just-completed spring legislature session.
For now, at least, few issues so clearly illustrate the philosophical differences between the B.C. Liberals and the NDP as does the debate over what action the B.C. government should take when it comes to addressing the wildly expensive housing prices that have taken root in much of the Metro Vancouver area.
The housing market is just that: a market. And the free enterprise coalition that is the B.C. Liberal Party is loathe to push government into intervening to any great extent in a marketplace, lest such action leads to unintended consequences.
Whereas the NDP, long favourites of government intervention in the economy in all sorts of ways, is calling for a government-imposed speculation tax of two per cent, and a tax on vacant property.
NDP housing critic David Eby and Finance Minister Mike de Jong clashed on the housing issue on the second-to-last day of the session last week, during debate on the spending estimates for de Jong’s ministry. Check out the recorded proceedings as it’s a good summary of the positions the parties will put before the voters next spring.
Eby cites a few dozen economists’ calls for some kind of tax on “international money” coming into the housing market and notes some have expressed fear the insanely expensive housing prices mean companies can’t attract employees to live here, which can eventually have a big negative impact on the local economy.
Eby wants the government to take aggressive action against foreign purchasers who may not even be living here, and has accused de Jong and the B.C. Liberal government of essentially doing nothing on the file.
But de Jong’s main counterpunch is that there is a lack of firm data on just who exactly is buying property and where they originate from. He maintains without that hard information, it’s dangerous to conclude that foreign investors are solely to blame for escalating housing prices.
De Jong also insists that increasing the supply of housing is the key to solving the problem.
The NDP is clearly betting its demand for direct government intervention is an appealing message, but remember that older people (many of whom own homes and are now sitting on proverbial gold mines) tend to vote in far greater numbers than a younger crowd frustrated about not being able to get into the market.
Housing has never been a dominant issue in B.C. elections. We’ll find out in less than a year from now whether that still holds true.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
