In their words: B.C. party leaders on affordability and housing

British Columbia’s provincial election is just two days away.

While more than one in four British Columbians have already cast an early ballot, many still have yet to make up their minds.

Polling shows affordability and housing remain key issues to voters. We sat down with B.C.’s three major party leaders to ask them how they plan to make life more affordable over the next four years.

BC NDP Leader David Eby

Your party has been in power for four years, but people are still struggling to find attainable rentals or homes to buy. What would you do with four more years to address that challenge?

It is a huge issue. Anyone who is looking on Craigslist for a place to rent or looking at real estate listings thinking maybe I will be able to afford something, it’s very discouraging. For me this is one of the key priorities for our government, to drive down the cost of housing however we can.

We’ve got a plan that experts say is going to deliver over 300,000 middle-income homes, we have a clear program to ensure that 5,000 people have the opportunity to move from rental housing into ownership of their first home. Using public land for housing, to make it more affordable. Addressing speculation through Airbnb and people leaving homes vacant in the middle of a housing crisis.

Now the big difference is John Rustad says it is not the premier’s job to ensure affordable housing, leave it to the market, the market is going to solve it. Well, we have seen that before.

And when you add 300,000 people to the province in two years, people who need housing, we have to be building, we have to get rid of the red tape, and build every possible way, address all the things.

Highlights from the BC NDP housing platform:

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BC Conservative Leader John Rustad

When you were in cabinet with the former BC Liberal government, costs went up for British Columbians. There were bridge tolls, MSP premiums, increasing MSP costs and increasing BC Hydro rates. How can you assure people that’s not the case with the BC Conservatives?

There hasn’t been a Conservative government in B.C. in almost 100 years, so our approach is obviously different than what the BC Liberals were when I was part of that group. So when it comes to things like bridge tolls, MSP, the NDP are saying we are going to bring that, it’s just outright lies, it’s just outright lies.

We have no plans to do anything like that we have to be laser-focused on affordability for people in this province which is why we are doing the (housing) rebate, which is why we are getting rid of the carbon tax, and we are going to look at additional tax measures to help people, things like for example making tips tax free.

When I look at David Eby and everything that’s gone on in this province, he’s running against his own record which I find funny. When I look at it, as a cabinet minister, I was very focused on Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, I signed 435 agreements, that was where I had my focus … for example, bridge tolls came before my time in cabinet.

Highlights from the BC Conservative housing platform:

• ‘Rustad rebate’ housing tax credit on up to $1,500 of housing costs in 2026 rising to $3,000 by 2029. Conservatives estimate up to $1,700 of tax savings by 2029.
• Set permit approval deadlines for municipalities.
• Eliminate provincial short-term rental restrictions.
• Eliminate provincial legislation approving up to four units on all residential lots in cities over 5,000 people.
• Eliminate Speculation and Vacancy Tax on empty homes.
• Work with municipalities to pre-zone areas for development as they craft local land use plans.
• Maintain transit-oriented density legislation, with modifications to require grocery stores and small businesses within walking distance.
• Make development cost charges payable at project completion, not project commencement.
• Eliminate the B.C. Energy Step Code, which sets net-zero mandates for home construction by 2032.
• $1 billion annual infrastructure fund for municipalities.
• Audit BC Housing.

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BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau

You have doubled down in support of a consumer carbon tax. How would the BC Green Party make life more affordable?

What is making life unaffordable? Let’s start at the top, which is housing. We’ve had the BC Liberals and then the BC NDP allow real estate investment trusts to move into the province, especially in the last 20 years, buy up enormous amounts of housing … and then they evict people from what was affordable housing and then they jack up the rents.

In Victoria, rent was $988 for a 1 bedroom unit in 2017. It’s now $2,100. We have a higher vacancy rate and double the rent. So we have to look at what is causing these problems. When it comes to the price of goods? Oil and gas. Inflation? One-third of inflation is tied to oil and gas. We have seen oil and gas companies profit enormously.

Highlights from the BC Green housing platform:

• Implement vacancy controls to limit how much landlords can raise rents on new tenants.
• Create province-wide standards for tenant protection.
• $1.5 billion annual fund to build 26,000 units of non-market housing, including 3,000 units for Indigenous people.
• Province-wide zoning rules to allow non-market housing.
• Increase Rental Protection Fund by $500 million, create $100 million annual fund for maintenance on rentals.
• $650 million annually in infrastructure funding.
• Increase subsidies for seniors who rent
• Impose 2 per cent tax on homes valued over $3 million.
• Introduce legislation recognizing housing as a human right, and consider property transfer tax on real estate investment trusts.

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