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On Friday, former Premier Vander Zalm said he doesn’t believe the new program will be any more useful or effective than the old one. But on one point he complimented Premier Christy Clark, saying it clearly was a useful political ploy as she heads into a May election.

“Well, it’s always a good thing just ahead of an election in that it kind of dulls or numbs any opposition remarks that you’re not doing enough to help young people get into a home,” Vander Zalm said. “It gives you an opportunity to say ‘what a great job we’re doing. We’ve cut our foreign investment and now we’re doing this’.”

But Vander Zalm said backing mortgages with taxpayer funds, particularly for those who might otherwise not qualify, isn’t sound fiscal policy.

“Politically, it is not a bad thing. But as far as value for investment, it is not that great,” he said. “It won’t make that much of a difference. It may even, as some are suggesting, encourage people to get in when perhaps they aren’t ready for it.”

Under the new program, the province will loan up to five per cent of cost, up to $37,500 on a home worth a maximum of $750,000, as long as the buyer matches the amount. But in order to qualify, the buyer has tobe pre-approved for a Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation-insured loan. Those high-ratio loans top out at 90 per cent. The 25-year provincial mortgage would be interest free for the first five years, and would remain on the title behind the bank first mortgage. The homeowner would be required to live in and keep their home for that period.