Candidates talk housing

With the Oct. 19 provincial election approaching, Castanet Kamloops sat down with candidates in the Kamloops Centre and Kamloops-North Thompson ridings to discuss the issue of housing affordability.

We asked the candidates what they and their party would do to alleviate the housing needs of people in Kamloops and around the province.

Kamloops Centre

BC Green Party candidate Randy Sunderman said his party wants to do more to assist local co-op housing, and has a goal of building 26,000 housing units of affordable housing per year in B.C.

“We got to get away from the concept of housing as a commodity and more of housing as a human right, and build that affordable housing stock. I think we've struggled as a province to do that to date, and that's one of the pieces in our platform,” Sunderman said.

BC NDP candidate Kamal Grewal said she feels the NDP government has been “leading the country” when it comes to finding solutions to housing. She said the party is poised to create 300,000 homes over the next decade in B.C., and its speculation tax is helping address affordability, as well.

“I think that is the approach we need to continue working on. That's what's going to solve the crisis,” Grewal said.

B.C. Conservative candidate Peter Milobar said his party plans to allow people a tax deduction on their rent or mortgage costs to help with affordability challenges, with about $1,600 of tax dollars returned to people’s pockets per year.

“But there's a lot more that needs to be done,” Milobar said. “We need to streamline processes so that the red tape and the bureaucracy that is holding up housing in a lot of areas is addressed so that we can advance — time is money, quite literally when it comes to housing.”

He also said government fees and taxes on housing need to be eliminated, and the Conservatives are pledging to spend a billion dollars a year to assist municipal infrastructure and offset housing costs.

Kamloops-North Thompson

BC NDP candidate Maddi Genn also noted the NDP’s plan to build 300,000 homes over the next decade, which is already being implemented.

“We've also really started focusing on renters, too. That's a really big one in Kamloops, specifically, we have a lot of renters,” Genn said.

Genn said B.C.’s cap on rent raises being tied to inflation has been a help to people such as university students and people who are new to Kamloops.

She said continuing these efforts and building new homes should help make a difference in housing affordability.

BC Green Party candidate Tristan Cavers said there needs to be a “crackdown” on real estate investment trusts buying up property and “maximizing the rent to what the market can absolutely bear.”

He also said there needs to be an expansion of non-market priced housing in B.C., as well as co-op housing.

B.C. Conservative candidate Ward Stamer also noted the B.C. Conservatives want to cut red tape when it comes to housing.

“It's taking too long to go through the process,” Stamer said.

He said the Conservatives would like to eliminate policy such as requiring buildings being 100 per cent handicap accessible because those rules are “causing a lot of additional costs to the builders.”

He said there can still be handicap accessible buildings, but there shouldn’t be mandates for all apartment buildings.

Earlier in 2024, the NDP government announced the BC Building Code will change next year to require all new condominium and apartment buildings to have 100 per cent adaptable suites and first floor suites in smaller apartment buildings will be required to be easily adapted so anyone with a disability can live in them.