Various reports and studies say provincial and municipal levels of government are not doing enough to make housing affordable – for owners or renters – in B.C., including Vancouver Island. What do you think needs to be done, and what would a government under your party do to improve affordability and availability of housing?
When we formed government, BC was years into a housing crisis that had been ignored, and in some cases encouraged, by the previous government. We took steps immediately by implementing our 30-point housing plan which included expanding and increasing the foreign buyer’s tax and implementing the speculation tax which has put thousands of rentals back on the market and has so far generated $115 million that is being used to build affordable housing throughout BC – including over 1,000 affordable units from Nanaimo-Cowichan.
We also increased rental supplements to low income families and seniors to ensure they can have better housing security and launched an investigation into money laundering in BC as we know this has contributed to our housing crisis.
We need to keep these investments going with more affordable rentals to meet the needs of our community. We also commit to providing additional low-interest loans to add tens of thousands more homes for middle-income families. We’ll expand the role of this innovative team to partner with non-profit and co-op housing providers to acquire and preserve existing rental housing. We’ll also instruct the Housing Hub to look for new pathways to home ownership through rent-to-own or other equity-building programs
Affordable housing is important for a healthy, resilient community. The Green Party will collaborate with local governments to build more middle market townhomes, prioritize investment in affordable, supportive and social housing, create a landbank for new co-op housing as well as support the acquisition of rental housing by non-profits. And we must be diligent in monitoring and responding to the influence of foriegn capital in our domestic housing market.
We have plans to address the cost of housing and the income of British Columbians, both of which are factors that affect affordable housing. Our promised Universal Basic Income ensures that members of our communities can live in dignity. The Green Party will also establish a task force to advise on modernizing employment standards and reducing inequality in employment relationships. The benefit of increased productivity needs to flow equitably to all British Columbians. A Fair Wages Commission will also be established to recommend consistent and predictable increases to the minimum wage.
Candidates responses to this question have been added in the order received. Go to the Election Questions list to see questions that have been submitted to the Forum.