Metaneos

The BC NDP will possibly hold onto power in the province of BC. With a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Greens, they should aim for four years of stable government. However, they should also look inward. They should take good lessons from this near-loss of power. The BC NDP wanted to take a "centrist" position —that they were "safe for business"— but have no idea that the further right the party tacks, the more this plays into the right's strengths giving parties like the BC Conseratives headwinds to go even further right. Rather than safe, the BC NDP needed to announce policies that would've been like swinging haymakers at certain business interests especially for rentals; businesses taking advantage of low wages for international workers; and universities taking advantage of international students. For current rent prices, this plays twofold against the NDP. Rent prices as they are now depress voter turnout for the NDP. People see the NDP as ineffe...

CTV News: Full B.C. NDP platform includes speculation tax hike, some free transit for seniors A quick analysis of this announcement doesn't move the needle much in my opinion of Elby. He's safe and largely ineffectual. I say ineffectual because his efforts at taking on the rich landlords and speculators that have driven up the costs of housing and renting have largely fallen flat. The prices haven't dropped nearly enough for the average voter to be able to afford anything. Prices have dropped from the AirBnB regulation and the data is too incomplete when it comes to the Vacancy Tax to draw any conclusion to measure it's impact. But the AirBnB price drop has only made a small dent in the affordability of the average unit price. When the newspapers declare that prices have dropped by 2% overall (around $50) and $150 from the AirBnB regulations, the average renter's just going to be left feeling frustrated because the average rent in Vancouver is still $2,600/month an...