Someone needs to remind Mayor Robertson that he is running a city, not a province or a country Steve Jones Follow Oct 18, 2017 · Unlisted

Mayor Robertson brought forward a motion today that easily passed a vote of the Vancouver City Council and will now be moving to the next steps of policy development. As a proud British Columbian, this is the most poorly conceived proposal that I have seen from a municipal government in our province.

The Mayor is trying to set up a system where people who have an existing address in Metro Vancouver would have an exclusive window of time to purchase pre-sale housing units in Vancouver before anyone else is allowed to do so.

In a competitive market where buildings often sell out, this means that people who do not have an existing address in Metro Vancouver would have no chance to buy these units. Their only option will be to buy used housing units, which presumably will become more expensive due to increased competition. If you are a British Columbian who lives in Victoria, Chilliwack or Terrace and you want to move to Vancouver — you will have less selection and will be operating at an economic disadvantage to people who are already in the Metro Vancouver area.

The full wording is here:

I have countless objections to this motion but let me start with just four:

1) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

At its very core, this proposal is inconsistent with the spirit of section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is intended to protect the mobility of Canadian citizens. I doubt it is a violation of the Charter but it is definitely inconsistent with the principles.

“6. … (2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right a) to move to and take up residence in any province; and b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province. (3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject to a) any laws or practices of general application in force in a province other than those that discriminate among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous residence; and ….”

2) It’s a huge insult to half of the population of British Columbia

There are 4.6 million people in British Columbia and about 2.5 million in Metro Vancouver. British Columbia is a single borderless province and a disproportionate amount of general provincial tax revenue is invested in Vancouver or directly adjacent to Vancouver. This includes funding for the most advanced health care, education, and transportation facilities in the province.

When any of the 2.1 million British Columbians outside of Metro Vancouver need to relocate for work, to receive health care, or to pursue a post-secondary education, they deserve the right to compete for housing on equal footing with all other British Columbians.

If Vancouver wants the rest of the province to chip in a massive amount of taxpayer money for a new Skytrain extension down Broadway, they may find that support begins to taper off after they erect their virtual wall.

Of course, this is also a slippery slope. If this passes in Vancouver, you can be sure that other municipalities and regions will follow. It’s not a stretch to imagine that the people of Vancouver Island will say that they’ve had enough with the city folks and that you are only allowed to buy new houses on the island if you already have an address there. This knife will cut in all directions at a time when we need more unity in the province, not less.

3) It will have unintended consequences and will be impossible to enforce.

For starters, the rental market will become even worse as an increasing number of people near the edge of Metro Vancouver try to get inside of the boundary so that they have equal access to the real estate market. All of the conditions and exceptions will also be very complicated. What do you do if someone has purchased a pre-sale condo that is three years away from completion but then they need to leave the city? What if a couple becomes pregnant and a one bedroom is no longer appropriate for them? How do you stop locals from making purchases on behalf of people who don’t yet have an address in the city? The list goes on. Implementation will be an expensive trainwreck and add further Vancouver-specific bureaucracy to real estate transactions.

4) It distracts from policies that might actually make a difference

Vancouver is unique in that there are relatively few purpose-built rental buildings and that is one of the reasons why the rental market is such a circus. The challenges with renting are also one of the reasons why people stretch to buy and that helps to push prices higher. Vancouver is also unique in that the city has gone to great lengths to protect single-family-home zoning directly adjacent to high-volume high-speed transit lines. A simple example of an action that would make a more meaningful difference would be to rezone a three block radius around the Nanaimo Skytrain station to rental-only high rise buildings.

That’s my two cents. What do you think?

Cheers,

Steve