Pierre Poilievre seeks 'urgent' ethics committee probe of B.C. 'condo bailout'
· Toronto Sun
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the parliamentary ethics committee to probe a program announced earlier this month by Ottawa and the B.C. government to buy over 2,000 unsold condos to convert into affordable housing.
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Calling the program a “condo bailout,” Poilievre shared on Sunday a letter addressed to the House’s ethics committee chair, Conservative MP John Brassard, seeking an “urgent meeting” to investigate the program.
The federal government is expected to cover 10% of the $1.45 billion in estimated costs to convert the condo units into affordable housing, while the B.C. government is expected to pay the remaining balance.
“Under the Liberals’ plan, taxpayers would be on the hook to buy more than 2,200 ‘vacant’ units that British Columbians can’t afford or don’t want at their current price,” Poilievre said in the letter dated on Friday.
“Far from making housing more affordable, the bailout prevents a price correction from taking place, preserving high prices for developers rather than lowering them for buyers.”
Details of condo conversion plan unclear
The federal and B.C. governments announced the plan on June 19 with the Prime Minister’s Office touting it as “one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase housing supply.”
In a news release, the PMO also said both governments plan to “leverage innovative financing tools” to convert the condos “in priority growth areas.”
The program, named the Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion, was part of a 10-year B.C. infrastructure development plan that would see the federal government invest more than $5 billion in the province.
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Plan lines Liberal insiders’ pockets: Poilievre
In his letter, Poilievre criticized Carney, stating: “In his economy, well-connected insiders, power brokers, and corporate lobbyists get all the benefits while sticking Canadians with the losses. The Liberal club shouldn’t benefit from the public’s expense.”
The Conservative leader ended his letter by calling on Brassard to “hold an urgent meeting of the ethics committee so it can investigate this bailout.
“Forcing homebuyers to compete with their own tax dollars to raise prices for the benefit of developers is not in the interest of Canadians,” Poilievre added.
PM defended plan last week
Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Carney said the idea for the plan came from the B.C. government.
“No developer asked for this from me directly,” Carney told reporters, per Global News .
He admitted that he and the federal government had done a poor job of announcing and explaining the plan.
Both the prime minister and federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said details of the plan will be released in the coming months.