CBC "On the Coast" segment

With Peter Waldkirch and Russil Wvong

Housing advocates sound off what which policies actually make a difference (9:31)

Peter Waldkirch and I were on CBC’s “On the Coast” program yesterday afternoon, with host Rohit Joseph filling in for Gloria Macarenko.

Questions from Rohit:

• How do you feel about the progress BC has made this year when it comes to the housing crisis?

• What do you think would be your biggest concern that the government should be prioritizing when it comes to the housing crisis?

• In a video that went viral earlier this month, titled “Housing Hell,” Pierre Poilievre blamed Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals for where we’re at now. Do you feel that’s a fair contention?

• We’ve heard about federal policies like the foreign buyer ban, or implementing speculation taxes. We’ve done that at a provincial scale so far. Do you think policies like that, whether provincial or federal, make much of a difference?

• I’m curious whether the building of homes needs to come more from the private sector or public sector. People say, it’s great if we build more homes, but if they’re still unaffordable for most of us, that’s not really helping me. Do you think we need to shift who’s building the homes, and the types of homes we’re building, in a drastic way?

• I’m just curious whether you think we need to adopt a different strategy here. Clearly we just need more homes, period. But is there a way that there could be more collaboration, perhaps, by various levels of government and non-profits, private sector, so that we see more homes that the average person can actually afford to live in?