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VICTORIA — B.C.’s finance minister says he’s going to offer a cash incentive on one hand, and maybe apply a little Drano with the other, to unclog the housing development pipeline in Metro Vancouver’s municipalities.

Mike de Jong unveiled details in an interview about his plan to offer cash to Lower Mainland municipalities in exchange for “reasonable” deadlines on permitting, rezoning and approval processes.

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The hope, he said, is to get shovels in the ground on tens of thousands of new townhomes, apartments and condos that have spent years languishing in local planning departments during the region’s housing affordability crisis.

Finding a way to get them on the market could address the region’s supply shortage and maybe even drive down prices.

“What I said in the budget, purposefully, and in a more formal way than what I’ve been saying behind-the-scenes to municipalities, is we are prepared to sit down with you and pour a little Drano on this and unclog what seems to be a clogged approval process,” said de Jong.