B.C. drafted a bold housing blueprint. The rest of Canada should copy it.
Policy ideas started to become political reality only this year. The Liberals’ housing accelerator money this fall pushed cities across the country to agree to reforms that generally include measures such as four homes on one lot and increased density near transit. But it is Mr. Eby and his B.C. government that has gone the furthest, in the province where housing prices first spiralled out of control.
Mr. Eby didn’t invent the future. What the NDP did was turn readily available good ideas into legislation. Cities in B.C. have been instructed to quickly loosen their zoning rules. This includes, without special permissions, multiple homes on a residential lot and significant density near busy transit hubs.
Is suburban sprawl really the answer? What is the infrastructure cost of suburban sprawl in the long term?
The problem with housing is that it is driven by objective details whereas almost all political decision-makers are driven by ideology. This is especially so for Ontario---I don't think Ford and many of his key people are capable to working through a complex, facts-driven policy analysis. That explains his flail-fest of opening up the GreenBelt, loosening the power of municipalities, etc, in favour of just letting 1950's style suburban sprawl rip.