A commentary by a former Nanaimo journalist.
Premier David Eby’s NDP government is about to learn how the law of unintended consequences works.
When Eby took over as premier late last year, his intentions about forcefully reorienting B.C. local governments into increasing rental stock were clear. Also clear was that for Eby, as he stacked the premier’s office with non-governmental experts to provide guidance while various cabinet ministers languished on the sidelines, the ends justify the means.
The latest salvo from the Eby government, in what seems more like a PR stunt, is a list of local governments required to make housing targets, or have the province take over their development and zoning approval process.
In the effort to mandate rental stock, Eby’s government is coming across as Vito Corleone, with an offer that certain municipalities cannot refuse.
Yes, the government must act to prevent people becoming unhoused and to see that enough affordable units are available. But removing the power of municipalities to decide on land use, and thus the ability of developers to work with local governments to maximize investments, will have serious long-term negative consequences for all: tenants, landlords, developers, municipalities, and the provincial government.
Eby’s misguided efforts will actually cause serious damage to the rental market in B.C. By diluting the rights of municipalities he risks seeing investors who have always looked to rental units for a good return to put their money elsewhere.
If Eby wants to turn the provincial government into the biggest landlord in B.C., with the immense costs and problems accruing to that proposition, he does so not only at his peril but at the peril of already stressed renters.
This government has tried the Speculation Tax, expanding to more areas again next year, with mixed results. It may open unoccupied properties to be rented, but as they account for only a small percentage of what’s required, the Spec Tax does very little to create the much larger number of affordable rental units needed.
The Spec Tax is probably a bigger boon to the Canada Revenue Agency, with an annually updated list of B.C. property owners, than prospective B.C. renters.
The decades-long mess in real estate in Canada, characterized by volatile and exponential market valuations that have led to higher rental costs and fewer units, needed to be met by the B.C. government with skill in negotiation with municipalities and acumen in the real estate and development sectors. Instead we get threats and a hit list, surely an indication of incomprehension and questionable competence on the part of this government to cope with what has become a crisis.
Governing at any level is not easy given the high stakes and constant potential for conflict. We expect our politicians to use dialogue and diplomacy when confronted with difficult or intractable situations. Demands and veiled threats result in only one thing: antagonism.
This government can be sure that losing the goodwill of some municipalities by forcibly removing their approval processes will only create frosty relations with all B.C. municipalities. It’s one thing if this government alienates landlords, but municipalities and developers have a lot more influence in Victoria and on provincial politics than perhaps the premier and his advisers realize.
Eby would do well to understand, in addition to seeing that his plan will ultimately backfire, that creating animosity with municipalities risks a spillover into animosity from another important realm: voters.
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