Eby alternatively defensive and proud of housing record
Eby is given a sharp question about whether there is inconsistency in the NDP’s housing plan by demanding municipalities approve much more housing while simultaneously proposing a tax on new, unsold housing units.
“Wow, Shachi, that’s not correct,” he begins, addressing tonight’s moderator, but then mostly agrees that his government has just done that.
“Twenty-four months in a row, rents have been decreasing. That’s because we have built so much rental housing,” Eby says.
(The answer, according to many housing experts, is a mix of increased housing supply along with a massive dropoff in temporary residents and uncertainty in the global economy, creating a years-long decline in the monthly number of homes sold in the province).
Eby then argues that Doerkson’s promise to repeal municipal housing rules would increase red tape around new projects and put many proposals back to lengthy public hearing timelines.
Doerkson says, “you have no right telling the people of Penticton … telling them where to build, how to build,” referring to getting rid of public hearings consistent with official community plans and prescribed zoning rules for certain urban transit centres.