VANCOUVER -- Interim federal Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said Wednesday it may be time for government to look at measures to address the high prices in Canadian real estate markets such as Vancouver.

Ambrose, speaking at a Vancouver Board of Trade meeting, noted a conversation during her visit to the city that illustrated the seriousness of the situation.

“I was talking to a cab driver here, asking him how does he feel about (the fact) that a $1.5-million home is a cheap home here, apparently,” Ambrose said at the meeting. “And he said, ‘I will never get to live in Vancouver. I will never be able to live in the city I was born in.’ And I thought, that’s really sad … That’s the time when you have to rethink that maybe the government should do something, when people who are born here can’t live here anymore.”

The Alberta MP added that the Tories were reluctant to intervene under the administration of former prime minister Stephen Harper due to a lack of credible data, but said with a study underway right now, that facet of the problem may soon be addressed.

Ambrose, who became interim leader after Harper’s resignation, also touched on the need to address homelessness.

“We are the party that should be the ones talking about the solution to homelessness,” she said. “We are the ones who should be talking about solutions to poverty. Those are the things, when you really think about the very fundamental principles of conservatism, it’s always been about taking care of those most in need.”

chchiang@vancouversun.com

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