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Meanwhile, young B.C. voters still can’t afford a Metro Vancouver home and with all the current rules, regulations and delays, it is not likely to change.

I would like to recommend to the provincial government the real long-term solution.

In the early 1980s, as minister for municipal affairs and transit, I introduced the Planning Act. It made its way right to the legislature where, as expected, the NDP opposition, regional districts and some municipal and city bureaucrats, and even some special interests like big developers mounted their protests.

Their main complaint was the requirement for municipalities and regional districts to develop five-year plans that clearly delineated lands available for development. The plans were subject to provincial approval and possible amendments. An application from a person or developer had to be dealt with in 60 days. If approval or disapproval was not granted within that time, the application was automatically approved and subject only to an appeal by either party to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Ministry officials believed the proposed legislation would save someone wishing to build or buy a home a lot of money and time and that it would allow developers and local governments to quickly respond to housing shortages. The protests by special interests grew and then-premier Bill Bennett and my cabinet colleagues decided to pull the bill; old-timers may recall me calling them “gutless.”