New BC Political Discussion - POST BC Election 2017

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Spork

The RE industry sure is out in force getting Post Media to spin out all sorts of sob stories and opinion articles, my god!

Yeah, it's laughable how fast they were trot out Anne McMullin. Where was the UDI all those years when they were claiming foreign buyers weren't an issue? And Postmedia and its predecessor owners have always been in bed with the BC Libs. Remember their "Believe BC" campaign?

Take this:

Canadians are not rushing en masse to sell their recreational properties in British Columbia yet, but they’ve stopped looking to purchase vacation homes there amid growing fear of the province’s planned speculation tax.

“We haven’t been besieged by people looking to sell,” LandQuest Realty Corp. president Richard Osborne said of the B.C. NDP government’s proposed 2 per cent tax on the value of any unoccupied home in the more populated parts of B.C.

Still, Osborne said out-of-province homebuyers could rush to sell, depending on what the province legislates. The first reaction among his clients has been “fear and uncertainty”, and fewer are shopping...
http://business.financialpost.com/person...ush-to-sell-if-b-c-slaps-speculation-tax

Even if their hysteria were rue, I'm perfectly happy to see recreational prices decline, and make it more affordable for BC buyers.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Even if their hysteria were rue, I'm perfectly happy to see recreational prices decline, and make it more affordable for BC buyers.

The problem is, those who already bought-in don't want to see their purchase forced to be devalued, so either sell at a loss or make a giant stink like the NDP are taking away the roof over your head.

[Cypherus]

I think the speculation tax is a good idea, but it's not going to stop individuals and their corporations from dumping money into real estate for purposes of profiteering. The speculation tax is a cost of doing business. Sell a home for $1,000,000 , and sure, $20,000 will go to the NDP (at the top 2% rate speculation tax), and you keep the net profit of $200,000 after the purchase originally cost you $780,000. Whether the individual or corporation will actually report the capital gain or business income for tax purposes, is CRA's job right now (hence the Trudeau government going after people investing and selling real estate in Lower Mainland). The NDP is just wanting a cut from the speculation, but not ending speculation altogether because the tax will become general revenue to fund all kinds of social programs, including dance theory...

[geotag277]

Originally Posted by Cypherus

I think the speculation tax is a good idea, but it's not going to stop individuals and their corporations from dumping money into real estate for purposes of profiteering. The speculation tax is a cost of doing business. Sell a home for $1,000,000 , and sure, $20,000 will go to the NDP (at the top 2% rate speculation tax), and you keep the net profit of $200,000 after the purchase originally cost you $780,000. Whether the individual or corporation will actually report the capital gain or business income for tax purposes, is CRA's job right now (hence the Trudeau government going after people investing and selling real estate in Lower Mainland). The NDP is just wanting a cut from the speculation, but not ending speculation altogether because the tax will become general revenue to fund all kinds of social programs, including dance theory...

One of the unintended consequences of all these taxes is that the BC budget becomes more and more dependant on the thing it is trying to curb - which is speculation and real estate investment.

BC has about 4 billion dollars coming into the budget from property taxes and transfer taxes. By contrast, Ontario, a province 3x the size, has about 600 million from the same category of taxes. That's about $50 per person in Ontario versus about $800 per person in BC.

If BC got the same revenue per person as Ontario on real estate, that 300 million surplus in BC's budget would swing to a multi-billion dollar loss.

[MIPS]

Being a Kamloops resident, we have always seen our Okanagan neighbor Kelowna as that douchebag old neighbor who calls city bylaw when you don't cut your lawn for a month and has the NO SOLICITING sign on the door.
So of course, when the idea of a speculation tax finally reached city council they immediately ran off crying to the media that it will destroy the economy. Can't be scaring away those Albertan weekend warriors now, can we?

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/spec...on-hit-for-west-kelowna-property-owners/

Speculation tax a $10 million hit for West Kelowna property owners

...

The report, by chief administrative officer Jim Zaffino, says not only will the tax directly affect property owners, it could also have a tremendous economic impact on the city by slowing development, reducing property values, result in the loss of tourism revenue, cost jobs, slow the city’s economy and create an uneven playing field when it comes to West Kelowna and other area municipalities–with the exception of Kelowna which is also subject to the tax.

“The intended purpose of this tax is to reduce or eliminate speculation, which in turn will control and ultimately reduce prices and make housing affordable,” writes Zaffino. “This tax was implemented without consultation with West Kelowna council or City of West Kelowna staff.”

...

Zaffino cited a number of examples of people who would be affected by the tax in both Kelowna and West Kelowna, including a Red Deer, Alberta, couple who built a second home in the South Bay Landing area of Kelowna in 2006.

He said their property was assessed at just under $2 million before the B.C. real estate crash in 2008. After that, the property never reached the same value again.

“They are not speculators and believe it is unfair that they would be subjected to a speculation tax,” says Zaffino.

“They visit their property up to 10 times a year, support the local community and feel connected to the community in Kelowna just as they do to their community in Red Deer, Alberta. They are not willing to pay an additional $36,000 per year to live for up to 80 days in Kelowna.”

He said the couple plan to put their home up for sale if there are not significant changes made to the current speculation tax. They are also shocked that the tax is retroactive, as this does not even let owners have the opportunity of making a decision to buy a property with the knowledge of the tax they would have to pay.”

Among other things, they want West Kelowna to be excluded from the tax.


IMHO:


Kelowna, you wonder why we hate you. It's not because your hockey team keeps whipping our butt.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by MIPS

IMHO:


Kelowna, you wonder why we hate you. It's not because your hockey team keeps whipping our butt.

Here's the thing I don't understand:

They visit their property up to 10 times a year, support the local community and feel connected to the community in Kelowna just as they do to their community in Red Deer, Alberta. They are not willing to pay an additional $36,000 per year to live for up to 80 days in Kelowna.

I don't understand why they can't get a hotel room or AirBnb and have the same connection to the community? It'll be a lot cheaper and actually help the local economy at the same time, instead of having your house sit empty for 280 days a year (which does the local economy no good at all).

If you're only spending two months a year in a city you're not a resident, you're a tourist. If you don't want to pay the tax, become a resident of BC and live there more than half the year.

I'm having a real problem feeling any sympathy for people who own two houses and complain about this, while a lot more people actually living in BC struggle to find affordable and stable housing.

[WarrenC12]

Not sure the math adds up either. At 2%, their property is worth $1.8M. That's a little more than the "family cabin" I hear people whining about.

[logicbomb]

The NDP has essentially cost Vancouver the opportunity of ever hosting a Mens World Cup game.

This sporting event would have generated tons of provincial revenue and would have been a boost for the City. What a total shit move by Horgan and Co.

Hopefully this costs them the next election.

[stump]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

The NDP has essentially cost Vancouver the opportunity of ever hosting a Mens World Cup game.

This sporting event would have generated tons of provincial revenue and would have been a boost for the City. What a total shit move by Horgan and Co.

Hopefully this costs them the next election.

Just read that article. What a bunch of stupid fucktards. Basically everyone who loves soccer in this city will be headed to Seattle or Edmonton/Calgary along with their money for whatever games they get.

I would say I'm surprised but i'm really not.

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by stump

Just read that article. What a bunch of stupid fucktards. Basically everyone who loves soccer in this city will be headed to Seattle or Edmonton/Calgary along with their money for whatever games they get.

I would say I'm surprised but i'm really not.

This again exemplifies how stupid and short-signed the NDP are. The event was 8 years away and they wanted a fixed cost to justify hosting an event that would have generated hundreds of millions in revenue? Viewership is in the BILLIONS. What reason for them was to turn down this opportunity? A temporary grass field would have cost us 1-2 million. Again, this stupid party won their election solely relying on the Lower Mainland flipping Orange. Fucking over Metro Vancouver here was the dumbest move you could possibly make.

The voters will not forget this.

[Metro-One]

Okay, my family (who all voted NDP this last election) are really pissed. They are insane soccer fans (back in the day they bought satellite TV just to watch the world cup). What a terrible PR move.

It is not the most serious situation in the world but it is such an easy way to piss off a lot of soccer fans while saving essentially pennies.

Vancouver had Canada's flagship soccer stadium and we are essentially Canada's soccer city... yet we have given this great opportunity to Edmonton / Seattle... nicely done...

I really hope there is a way for them to quickly fix this...

[CanSpice]

I'm good with it. FIFA was asking for a blank cheque, and god knows there would be massive overruns that we would have to pick up. Taking on all of the liability is a complete non-starter. I'm happy we're not doing business with an incredibly corrupt organization.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

I'm good with it. FIFA was asking for a blank cheque, and god knows there would be massive overruns that we would have to pick up. Taking on all of the liability is a complete non-starter. I'm happy we're not doing business with an incredibly corrupt organization.

Exactly! I'm glad to see the NDP resist the schoolboy attraction to these circuses that the BC Liberals had. I'm tired of the taxpayer being on the hook for these things.

Go out and support the Whitecaps if you want to show your love for soccer, not the FIFA corruption train.

PS The BC Libs seem to have made the annoying Jas Johal, erstwhile media personality, the point person for this whinge. I'd forgotten how annoying he was.

[WarrenC12]

Wow did nobody actually read what FIFA wanted?

http://theprovince.com/news/bc-politics/mike-smyth-b-c-is-right-to-reject-fifas-sucker-deal

FIFA's corruption is endless. This and the Olympics are quickly becoming very unpopular to host in western democracies for good reason.

[mezzanine]

a little sad, but I think the NDP made the right decision. We already have most of the infrastructure but a one-sided contract that FIFA can change at any time is ridiculous.

compared to expo and the Olympics, Vancouver/BC was the focus and we were able to leverage other infrastructure from that. I'm not sure what permanent city-building we would get by hosting a few early rounds of the world cup with the ante that we'd have to put up.

Chicago's out too...

Matthew McGrath, a spokesman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, says in a statement: "FIFA could not provide a basic level of certainty on some major unknowns that put our city and taxpayers at risk. The uncertainty for taxpayers, coupled with FIFA's inflexibility and unwillingness to negotiate, were clear indications that further pursuit of the bid wasn't in Chicago's best interests."

FIFA insists that contracts with host cities contain a provision they be governed under Swiss law and give FIFA the ability to modify agreements at any time.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Not to mention the financial and logistical headache it'd cause. We're still paying off the debt for the Winter Games, aren't we?

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Not to mention the financial and logistical headache it'd cause. We're still paying off the debt for the Winter Games, aren't we?

Yes and no. In one sense the direct costs for the Olympics have been paid off. In another, the indirect costs (Canada Line, upgrades to the convention centre, Sea To Sky Highway upgrades, etc) haven't. Here's a story from 2014 outlining how you could argue either side.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Wow did nobody actually read what FIFA wanted?

http://theprovince.com/news/bc-politics/mike-smyth-b-c-is-right-to-reject-fifas-sucker-deal

FIFA's corruption is endless. This and the Olympics are quickly becoming very unpopular to host in western democracies for good reason.

This was an awful deal for the City.

We maybe, maybe got to host 3 games. Even that wasn't made clear in this agreement.

And this would have required a blank cheque.

Its ridiculous.

As much as I enjoyed the Olympic vibe, and generally wanted FIFA to come to Van, this was a terrible deal to make.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Not to mention the financial and logistical headache it'd cause. We're still paying off the debt for the Winter Games, aren't we?

If you include very needed infrastructure that we are still benefiting from today. (The Canada Line, Sea to Sky upgrades, Convention Centre, Olympic Oval in Richmond, etc...) Even the Olympic Village is now a lived in community that acted as the anchor to redevelop the SEFC area.

If anything the Vancouver Olympics were among the most responsibly managed Olympics.

Helping host the FIFA World Cup would have been a very minimal cost for the benefit, especially seeing how we already have the infrastructure in place! Let's not forget the BC place just had 500 million dollars of renovations done, making it arguably our nations flagship soccer stadium...... and now we are not using it for the World Cup?

Not to mention the social sense of unity it would have brought participating in a North American wide event.

I can tell you that living in Japan the Olympics were a big boost to notoriety for Vancouver, and these events do help when people are planning where to have their school trips, conventions, etc...

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

If you include very needed infrastructure that we are still benefiting from today. (The Canada Line, Sea to Sky upgrades, Convention Centre, Olympic Oval in Richmond, etc...) Even the Olympic Village is now a lived in community that acted as the anchor to redevelop the SEFC area.

If anything the Vancouver Olympics were among the most responsibly managed Olympics.

Helping host the FIFA World Cup would have been a very minimal cost for the benefit, especially seeing how we already have the infrastructure in place! Let's not forget the BC place just had 500 million dollars of renovations done, making it arguably our nations flagship soccer stadium...... and now we are not using it for the World Cup?

Not to mention the social sense of unity it would have brought participating in a North American wide event.

I can tell you that living in Japan the Olympics were a big boost to notoriety for Vancouver, and these events do help when people are planning where to have their school trips, conventions, etc...

Yeah and that "notoriety" along with that after Expo 86 did nothing but lead to escalating housing costs for those who actually live and work here.

No thanks.

These Bread & Circuses can increasingly be hosted by the corrupt authoritarian regimes that have no voters to answer to.