By ThinkPol Staff

British Columbia Attorney General David Eby is inviting opponents to protest outside his Housing Town Hall 2.0 scheduled for Monday.

“There is adequate protest space outside, and we expect media to attend and cover any protest that takes place, so please protest outside,” Eby said in his invitation. “Inside, we ask that you respect the right of every attendee and speaker to both speak and be heard on these important and challenging issues.”

Eby’s invitation come as groups opposed to the BC NDP government’s measures at increasing housing affordability are calling for a “tax revolt” .

The attorney general had to cancel scheduled town hall on the school tax hike last month after opposition leader Andrew Wilkinson and real estate agency Sutton West Coast urged opponents of the tax to crash the town hall.

The guest speakers at Townhall 2.0 include Prof. Margot Young of UBC’s law school, Prof. Paul Kershaw from UBC and Generation Squeeze, Christine Duhaime, Partner at Duhaime Law; David Stroud, CEO of Mortgage Sandbox, Prof. Rhys Kesselman of SFU and Sarah Munro, a local parent and constituent.

“They will be addressing issues of poverty, money laundering, mortgage and realtor regulation, growing economic inequality, and the challenges and opportunities faced by families in our constituency,” Eby said. “These speakers are invited because they are experts in their fields. They will help us have an engaging and informative discussion about the challenge of the housing crisis in our community, and across the province, from a number of diverse perspectives.”

Eby asked attendees to treat speakers with respect.

“Some of my political opponents are already characterizing their attendance as being equivalent to presenting new government policy – which is obviously not the case,” Eby said in the invitation. “These speakers are invited exactly because they are independent of government.”

“Please join me in recognizing that these volunteer speakers are just that – volunteers,” Eby added. “While they don’t ask any of us to agree with them, I would ask that you treat them with respect and appreciation for coming out and sharing their thoughts, research and expertise.”