Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Premier Rejects Green Call For Foreign Buyers Ban Days Before Asia Visit

The Canadian Press, 17 Jan, 2018 12:20 PM
    VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan says he has plans to tone down speculation in British Columbia's real estate market but they don't include banning foreign buyers.
     
     
    Horgan said Tuesday he rejects recent calls by Green party Leader Andrew Weaver to implement a New Zealand-style law that restricts the purchase of existing homes to residents of New Zealand and Australia.
     
     
    The government's February budget will include measures to dampen speculation and increase housing supply, but not a prohibition on foreign buyers, he said.
     
     
    "I just don't believe in an open economy that's an appropriate way to proceed," he said at his first news conference of 2018.
     
     
    "I do believe we need to knock back speculation and make sure we are penalizing that behaviour in the interest of reducing demand and softening prices."
     
     
    Horgan said a ban on foreign buyers sends the wrong signals to investors about B.C.'s economy.
     
     
    "B.C.'s the gateway to Canada and I don't believe we should be curbing people from coming here," he said. "I'm a child of an immigrant and virtually everyone I see here is a child of an immigrant."
     
     
     
    Weaver said in a statement the government should act to target overseas speculation, moving towards a full ban.
     
     
    Horgan said he is prepared to face questions about B.C.'s real estate market during his trade visit to China, Korea and Japan, which starts Saturday.
     
     
    "What we know with absolute certainty is money raised in other parts of the world is distorting our housing market and we want to take steps to address that," he said.
     
     
    The former Liberal government introduced a 15-per-cent tax on foreign buyers purchasing real estate in Metro Vancouver in an effort to help more B.C. residents to buy homes.
     
     
    Horgan has also said the budget will include measures to stimulate construction of more rental units and family sized homes.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Three Masked Robbers Steal Marijuana From Licensed Grow-Op In Abbotsford

    Three Masked Robbers Steal Marijuana From Licensed Grow-Op In Abbotsford
    Abbotsford Police Patrol Officers responded to the 2200 block of Windsor Street for a report of a home invasion this morning at 4:28 am.

    Three Masked Robbers Steal Marijuana From Licensed Grow-Op In Abbotsford

    Thunder Bay, Ont., Police Moving To Address Allegations Of Systemic Racism

    Thunder Bay, Ont., Police Moving To Address Allegations Of Systemic Racism
    The Thunder Bay Police Service says the working group will include members of the service and volunteers from the community.

    Thunder Bay, Ont., Police Moving To Address Allegations Of Systemic Racism

    U.S. Plaintiffs Fire Back At Omar Khadr Defence Over Damages-Award Enforcement

    U.S. Plaintiffs Fire Back At Omar Khadr Defence Over Damages-Award Enforcement
    Canadian courts must accept the agreed statement of facts that underpinned Khadr's war-crimes conviction in 2010, they argue, regardless of whether he lied under oath when he admitted to tossing a hand grenade that killed the soldier eight years earlier.

    U.S. Plaintiffs Fire Back At Omar Khadr Defence Over Damages-Award Enforcement

    Low Uptake For New Immigration Program In Nova Scotia, Numbers Reveal

    Lena Diab says she remains optimistic the program will be a "wonderful tool" — it's aimed at attracting and retaining skilled immigrants for the workforce, as a way of supporting population growth and addressing labour shortages.

    Low Uptake For New Immigration Program In Nova Scotia, Numbers Reveal

    Pressure Grows To Expel Calgary University Student Guilty Of Sexual Interference

    Pressure Grows To Expel Calgary University Student Guilty Of Sexual Interference
    The mother of a University of Calgary student convicted of sexual interference says the school has asked him to stay away from campus as an online petition demanding that he be expelled grows.

    Pressure Grows To Expel Calgary University Student Guilty Of Sexual Interference

    City Of Calgary Cancels Nudist Swim At Public Pool Due To Security Concerns

    City Of Calgary Cancels Nudist Swim At Public Pool Due To Security Concerns
    City Of Calgary Has Cancelled A NudistSwim At A Public Pool Over Security Concerns

    City Of Calgary Cancels Nudist Swim At Public Pool Due To Security Concerns