Here is a sample question:
What do you think of the government’s plans to boost supply through regulations on Airbnb’s?
These initiatives, including speculation tax, are red herrings intended to divert voters’ attention away from decades of failed housing policies and treating housing as a cash machine. They can’t blame foreign buyers anymore, so now they need a new distraction – Airbnb. The Conference Board of Canada did an extensive study and found that the impact of Airbnb was not large enough to be affecting affordability on its own. When this new regulation fails, government will find a new distraction, someone else to blame. Housing has become politics in BC.
Politicians are quick to point the finger at a myriad of external forces creating housing un-affordability. The reality is governments control housing supply and affordability. They tell builders where and what to build (zoning); when to build (permits); how to build (building code); and how much revenue they demand from the projects. If governments enabled the market to work as intended, we would have much more housing supply and affordability.