After a couple of rocky pivots on the carbon tax and involuntary care, BC NDP Leader David Eby landed back on solid footing Thursday with the launch of a new affordable housing program that could serve as a major driver of his re-election bid.
The “affordable housing initiative” unveiled in Vancouver has the potential to be a momentum-builder for the NDP and turn the page on the party’s rough pre-campaign launch over the last week.
It’s a simple enough proposal to explain to voters: You buy a home, but only get a mortgage for 60 per cent of the sales price because the government covers the remaining 40 per cent for 25 years.
“Just imagine what it would look like to build a housing development in your community where people were able to buy in at 60 per cent of market value,” Eby said during a question and answer session at the Union of BC Municipalities in Vancouver.
“And you can see the potential of this initiative. I'm really excited about it. I think it's one of many tools that will help us address housing, and it's one of the key housing initiatives that we'll be campaigning on to keep and to expand if we're returned to government in the fall.”
The program hits a key area for the NDP — the middle class, with an income threshold of $191,910 for a household seeking two or more bedrooms. That’s the same cut-off used for the BC Builds rental program.
It’s a deliberate choice to target these folks, because while they might appear well-off on paper, they are being squeezed in all directions by inflation, interest rates and the rising cost of living. It’s especially an issue in urban centres, which are the NDP’s power base and the battleground for the upcoming election.
Officially, New Democrats won’t confirm that the affordable housing initiative is part of the election platform. For now, technically, it only exists as part of a government partnership announced Thursday with Vancouver-area First Nations to build 2,600 condos and townhomes at the Heather Lands, between West 33rd Avenue and West 37th Avenue.
But Eby strongly suggested at multiple events Thursday that he’s taking the program provincewide in his pitch to voters.
“We believe we have to be involved at a level that governments have not been involved for a long time, which is attainable middle-income housing,” he said.
“That group of people that earn a decent income, they should be able to get into the housing market, and they can't. A 40-per-cent discount from market through this innovative financing approach creates the possibility, not just in the most expensive housing market certainly in Canada … the west side of the City of Vancouver in the Heather Lands — if we can do it there, we can do it right across the province of B.C. and provide even deeper and more affordable discounts to get people into the housing market.”
The program is a much-needed shot in the arm for the BC NDP, which has seen its lead in the polls dwindle to a statistical tie as the campaign begins.
It’s also a reminder of Eby’s strength on the housing file. He immersed himself deep in the issue as the previous housing minister, and his blizzard of reforms to zoning, density, construction and permitting have been complemented by a crackdown on short-term rentals, a flipping tax, mandatory municipal housing targets and the removal of municipal powers to block housing projects.
It will be difficult for BC Conservative Leader John Rustad to present a housing platform half as detailed.
So far, the only Conservative position is “stabilize the housing market” by “getting prices under control by promoting the development of new housing.” Rustad has also said he’d cancel Eby’s municipal zoning overrides and crackdown on Airbnb properties.
“We’ve got a crisis in housing and a crisis, quite frankly, in affordability,” said Rustad. “This is David Eby’s record. And he’s going to do everything he can to distract away from his record.”
Eby, though, has already set up an effective contrast for whatever the Conservatives propose on housing: He’s wielding the power of government to drive down costs, and the other guys will just leave you at the mercy of developers out to make a buck.
“We believe that just the housing market on its own will not provide the housing that British Columbians need,” he said. “We just leave the housing market to itself — that's the position John Rustad is advocating.”
It’s been a rougher than expected couple of weeks for the NDP campaign. But the new housing program is another reminder not to underestimate Eby’s ability to regain his ground. In areas where he’s comfortable pitching bold ideas, like housing, the NDP leader remains a force to be reckoned with.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 16 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
He recently published a webinar primer video for the BC election, available on-demand here.
