On Friday, just before the long weekend, the Conservative Party of BC revealed their long-awaited housing plan, which the party is calling "Get BC Building."
The first action item the plan details is the "Rustad Rebate" that the party announced a week ago, which would see up to $3,000 a month in rent or mortgage costs become exempt from provincial income taxes.
Second, the Conservatives said, is "speeding up housing approvals," which will entail the three-pronged approach of approving homes in months rather than years, proactive planning, and "trusting BC professionals."
"Rezoning and development permits will be approved within 6 months, and building permits within 3 months," said the Conservatives. "If cities fail to issue permits within these timelines, the provincial government will step in and issue them."
While approval timelines are undoubtedly an issue, approvals fall to local governments and Rustad's promise to override cities to issue permits also contradicts his long-running criticism of the NDP and David Eby for introducing top-down regulations that reduce the decision powers of local governments.
The Conservatives also say that they will speed up housing approvals by "working with cities to 'pre-zone' areas in advance, eliminating delays caused by rezoning for each individual project," which is also seemingly at odds with Rustad's long-running criticisms of the suite of legislation the NDP has introduced — that essentially pre-zoned for small-scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH) and high-density housing development in transit-oriented areas.
It also appears that Rustad is walking back his promise to repeal Bill 44 (SSMUH), as the Conservatives' housing plan also includes a promise to create a Civic Infrastructure Renewal Fund "to provide $1 billion per year to municipalities that allow viable small-scale multi-unit housing on at least 2/3rds of their residential land."
As another way to speed up approvals, the Conservatives say their plan also "includes a Presumption of Compliance policy, requiring cities to trust certified and regulated professionals like engineers and architects to do their jobs without unnecessary bureaucratic interference, speeding up housing approvals." However, in cities such as Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey, programs already exist that allow certified third-party professionals to review permits and speed up the approvals process.
Aside from speeding up approvals, the Conservatives say they will also "repeal hidden taxes on housing" like "the radical Step Code policy and Net-Zero mandate" that Rustad says has resulted in construction costs by 30% to 40%. Although having to meet these sustainability requirements undoubtedly adds to costs, the development industry has largely attributed rising construction costs to the cost of materials and shortage of labour, while pointing to development cost charges as the biggest tax on housing.
The Conservatives also say that they will "support transit-oriented communities" and amend Bill 47 (transit-oriented areas) to "ensure new communities have space for grocery stores, small businesses, and services within walking distance of homes." Currently, Bill 47 only sets minimum heights and densities in transit-oriented areas for housing developments, with no regulations on non-residential uses, although most high-density developments near transit often already include a mix of uses regardless.
Additionally, the Conservatives say they will also "end over-regulation by activist city planners, who have inflated housing costs through endless design reviews and micromanagement that kills projects" by amending the Local Government Act to cut red tape and also establish a BC Development Tribunal "to hold regulators and politicians accountable to fair processes and the rule of law."
To encourage new rental construction, the Conservatives say they will bring back "a modern version of the successful Multi-Unit Residential Building (MURB) program." They will also "identify land outside the Agricultural Land Reserve with potential to support new communities, addressing the housing shortage with smart, sustainable development," which is exactly what the BC Builds program introduced earlier this year does.
Lastly, the Conservatives said they would also work with BC Assessment "to prevent current homeowners from being hit with higher tax bills due to future potential zoning changes" and conduct "a forensic audit of BC Housing to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent on genuinely low-income housing, not wasted on politically connected non-profits" — the latter of which has already been done and concluded what the Conservatives are hinting at.
"Our plan is about real accountability and real solutions to the housing crisis," said Rustad. "We will get BC building again, restore affordability, and make sure that all British Columbians have the chance to own a home and thrive."
The NDP Response
BC NDP Leader David Eby at a campaign event on September 28, 2024. / BC NDP
Shortly after the Conservatives unveiled their housing plan on Friday, the NDP published a statement that ignored much of the Conservatives' housing plan and instead focused on Rustad's past promises to repeal much of the regulations introduced by the NDP, despite Rustad seemingly walking back those promises.
"John Rustad has a 20-year record of defending the status quo on housing — and today he confirmed his plan to cancel 300,000 homes and bring back the bureaucracy and red tape that got us into this mess in the first place," said BC NDP candidate for Delta North (and Minister of Housing under the NDP) Ravi Kahlon. "Rustad's plan will make housing more expensive, not less. John Rustad is a risk people can’t afford."
On Sunday, the NDP then promised to introduce a "middle-class tax cut" that would "exempt an additional $10,000 of individual income from tax every year – providing a tax cut of over $1,000 for households and over $500 for individual British Columbians." Under this plan, over 90% of British Columbians would be eligible, said the NDP.
The move is a direct counter to the Conservatives' "Rustad Rebate," with the NDP pointing out that their proposed rebate would come into effect much sooner than the Conservatives. (In their own bit of contradiction, the headline of the NDP press release said the $1,000 relief is "starting immediately," but the first sentence then says it is "starting next year.")
Last week, the NDP also said it would "fast-track the growth of B.C.’s factory-built home construction industry" by reducing red tape, pre-approving construction designs, and boosting skills training.
Over the past week, the NDP has been highly aggressive against the Conservatives, first publishing a cache of old social media posts by candidates running for the Conservatives "endorsing crackpot MAGA conspiracies" such as the January 6 Capitol insurrection being a hoax and the 2020 US election being stolen from Donald Trump.
The NDP also published a video last week of Rustad saying that he regrets taking "the so-called vaccine" and that he believed it was being used to control the population. This morning, the NDP then published another video, in which Rustad said "this narrative around climate" is an "anti-human agenda" to reduce the population.
Election Day is Saturday, October 19, with advance voting beginning October 10 and the last day to request a vote-by-mail package being Sunday, October 13.
