Conservative MP Aaron Gunn says the program was not part of the Liberal Party platform and the government should allow market forces to play out.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Liberal MPs shut down a push by Conservative MPs Tuesday to hold summer committee hearings into a proposal to convert vacant condo units in British Columbia into affordable housing.
Conservative MP Aaron Gunn had called for the House of Commons ethics committee to schedule at least six meetings through the summer to study the proposal, including hearing from senior federal and B.C. government officials, as well as private and municipal leaders tied to the housing sector.
The debate on the Conservative motion was adjourned in a 5-to-4 vote after more than an hour and a half of discussion. Liberal MPs, who hold a majority in the House of Commons and in committees, said the study was premature, given that the B.C. government has yet to formally announce details of the proposed program.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby first announced the plan last month as part of a broader announcement on housing policy and local infrastructure.
The initial announcement of the Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion said it would use “innovative financing tools” to convert more than 2,200 vacant condo units into affordable rent-to-own homes. The initial announcement did not include a cost estimate.
The Prime Minister said a few days later that his government had done a poor job of explaining the plan, but said it would be a faster and more effective way of increasing the supply of affordable housing.
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The two governments have since confirmed that the program would be worth about $1.45-billion, most of which would be debt financing. Ottawa and the province would each contribute about $150-million in direct funding.
Mr. Eby had said Ottawa had initially approached his government with a proposal supported by developers to waive the federal sales tax on new units, but that was not B.C.’s preferred approach.
He has also said the program would be aimed at condos outside of Vancouver and that he’s open to scrapping the plan entirely if it gets a poor reception once the province releases the details.
“If people hate it, that’s okay. We don’t have to do it,” he said last month.
The Premier said the federal government “was enthusiastic about announcing this before all the details were out,” but that in the absence of details, “the plot has been lost a little bit here.”
Conservative MPs have criticized the plan as “bailout” for B.C. condo developers.
Mr. Gunn said the program was not part of the Liberal Party platform and the government should allow market forces to play out.
“They never campaigned on artificially propping up what are already extremely unaffordable housing prices and preventing the market from moderating to a more affordable and sustainable level,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting.
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Mr. Gunn said the program raises “obvious ethical questions” that the committee should pursue.
“Whose idea was it? Who lobbied for it? Is this being planned for more Canadian cities? And maybe most importantly, which well-connected developers, big banks, and foreign investors stand to benefit the most?” he asked.
The ethics committee is one of a small number of committees chaired by an opposition MP. Conservative MP and committee chair John Brassard agreed to the request for Tuesday’s meeting to debate Mr. Gunn’s motion.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, a B.C. MP, spoke during Tuesday’s meeting but did not vote as the NDP does not have official party status.
Ms. Kwan said Canadians should know how the plan was developed and how the program will decide which developers will benefit.
“I don’t agree with my Conservative colleagues very often, but this scheme has major problems and it does not pass the public smell test,” she said.
Liberal MP Fares Al Soud, who moved the motion to shut down debate on Mr. Gunn’s motion, said the program would ultimately be led by the B.C. government.
“We don’t get to dictate how the provinces spend their money. Our job as a government is to work in partnership with them to deliver on a mutual mandate, and that is what we’re doing,” he said. “We don’t currently have enough information to debate this in good faith.”