By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Sounding more like a candidate on the hustings than the meet-and-greet with supporters in Osoyoos that it actually was, B.C. Liberal Party leader Kevin Falcon has a plan for the province’s housing crisis, one revolving around the proverbial ‘carrot and stick’.
Stating the province has the “highest housing prices in North America,” Falcon noted that should he become Premier, his message to local governments will be that legislation will be changed to speed up the approval process for housing projects.
“I’m going to hold them accountable for making sure they get new supply into their municipalities and cities,” he added before explaining his carrot and stick approach.
“There will be incentives for them to do that and there will be punishments if they don’t because we are failing the next generation of young kids if we do not solve this problem,” Falcon said.
He also pledged there would be no finger-pointing or excuses over which government bore responsibility. “We’re gonna take responsibility and fix that problem,” he said. He made no mention of the rental aspect of the housing crisis, however.
Falcon was speaking to local supporters at an event on May 26 organized by local businessman Amarjeet Gill of J.G. Produce Osoyoos. Falcon later met with the Osoyoos mayor and councillors.
Falcon added he’s got other ideas for the housing crisis but there wasn’t enough time to go into them, “but I want you to know that it’s very top of mind for me to make sure we deal with this.”
He did elaborate a bit further, saying his strategy would also include a look at all the costs the government imposes on housing, adding he would be “looking at it through the eyes of a first-time buyer.”
“I’m going to try and design it in a way so that we can make sure British Columbians who have never owned a home before can have a path to homeownership that’s credible and realistic and there are ways that we can do that.”
He referenced a project he was previously involved in during his private equity days in which buyers were given a 24-month period in which they paid market-value rent which was then fully applied to the down payment.
If developers were incentivized to ensure 20 per cent of their new products were built on a rent-to-own basis, “now you’re starting to create the opportunity for first-time buyers to actually own a home,” he said.
While acknowledging there are all kinds of ideas that can be applied to help people get into the housing market, he cautioned that “we have to look in the mirror as government and recognize we are a big part of the problem.”
“Until we realize that and deal with local government problems and provincial government issues we’re not gonna solve this problem, we’re not gonna get close to solving it,” he said.
There is an obvious antecedent for Falcon’s property leanings. In 2013 Falcon left provincial politics and joined the world of private equity focusing mainly on big-ticket real-estate financing and property acquisition.
And while passionate about solving the housing problem, another of Falcon’s passions clearly runs the route of bashing the ruling NDP government at every available opportunity typically preceded by “they don’t know what they’re doing.” This of course includes what could well be shaping up to be the NDP’s proverbial Waterloo, the $1 billion eight-year plan to build a new Royal B.C. Museum.
“We don’t understand why they cannot help out people at a time when they’re really struggling,” he said in reference to a call by the B.C. Liberals to suspend the province’s gas tax for three months to help provide relief to struggling British Columbians.
“Instead, what did the NDP government decide to do? To spend $1 billion building a new museum in Victoria that nobody asked for and nobody – at least who I’ve met – supports. There are lots of projects we could be doing throughout the province that are way more valuable and important than building a $1 billion museum that nobody has asked for,” he said.
Kevin Falcon (front row 4th from left) with Amarjeet Gill of J.G. Produce Osoyoos (front row 3rd from left) with members of the local Sikh community. Don Urquhart photo.
Although speaking to a largely agricultural group, Falcon had little concrete to offer on the farming front other than general promises of ‘actually’ supporting farmers as well as promising effective government backed by both extensive public service experience as well as a decade of private sector business experience.
Falcon accumulated a wealth of previous and largely high-profile cabinet experience with B.C. Liberal governments under Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell, although agriculture was not one of them.
This perhaps explains his surprise at learning much of the garlic in B.C.’s supermarkets originates in China. A local garlic farmer concerned over this cheaper competition against locally grown produce was the impetus for this and of course Falcon’s subsequent ‘lightbulb moment.’
Falcon is no newcomer to the B.C. political scene, nor is he a stranger to controversy. This includes a sexual harassment issue within his B.C. Liberal party campaign staff in 2021, accusations that the party seriously lags in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) representation reflecting the diversity inherent across the province. And then there is the public support he voiced for divisive far-right politician Maxime Bernier.
When asked by the Times Chronicle about accusations around the lack of inclusiveness of the B.C. Liberal party, Falcon said that since day one of launching his leadership race in 2021 he has been clear on where he intends to take the party.
“I said this party is going to be more diverse, it’s going to be openly inclusive to the LGBTQ community, to women and to make sure we have candidates and membership of the communities we hope to represent.”
He also added that shortly after taking over as leader of the party he began making changes, listing off the positions filled by Bipoc staff.
“I’m not trying to tick boxes here, the reason that I do this is that I know when you’ve got diverse voices around the table you get the best results and that’s why I’m doing it. And it just so happens I think we benefit from that. So I’m moving quickly.”
