FORSETH – Will Kamloops council be able to cajole builders to build more?

WEDNESDAY (May 31), the provincial government announced housing target expectations, which they say will deliver more homes faster, and announced the first communities they have selected for this honour(?) – Kamloops was on that list.

The act enables compliance options as a last resort,
should municipalities struggle to create the conditions
that are necessary to ensure housing gets built.

As of May 30, Kamloops City Council is already on record regarding provincial government interference in local government land use.

A motion from Kamloops City Councillor Nancy Bepple called on the provincial government to “… not interfere with local government land use decision-making authority in regard to increasing housing supply through the Home for People action plan …”

It also stated that the City of Kamloops wishes to retain its jurisdiction over land use for housing.

That motion passed.

When I asked Nancy if there was anything else important to her on this issue she remarked:

“Kamloops needs more housing. The City of Kamloops and the Province agree on this.

“There are many good parts to the provincial Housing for People plan to help meet this goal. My concern about the plan, backed up by my resolution passed by council, is that local decision making for land use is important. I don’t want the province imposing zoning across the City of Kamloops.”

Meantime BC United Shadow Minister for Housing Karin Kirkpatrick said, “It’s clear that B.C. needs vastly more housing, but it’s incredibly disingenuous for this NDP government to pretend that they are not part of the problem. Number one on this housing naughty list should be David Eby and his NDP government.”

Thursday I spoke with the BC United Shadow Minister for Finance and MLA for Kamloops North Thompson, and asked what he thought about Kamloops being included on the list of cities targeted by the provincial government, with expectation that they should build more housing.

Peter Milobar, who is also a former three term Mayor of Kamloops, had this to say:

“There are many unanswered questions on how this will work and how, in a tight labour market, Kamloops City council will be able to cajole builders to build more than they currently are.

“More importantly the current NDP government has a lot of the blame for delays in housing with their own stalling of Provincial permits, and increased costs, given the multiple provincial taxes on new home construction.

“This seems like a way for the NDP government of David Eby to move attention away from the fact that six years into their 10-year housing plan, they have only delivered twelve percent of that plan.

“This has become typical of this government; make an announcement, without any details, and point the finger of blame elsewhere.”

From all accounts, it seems that Kamloops is doing just fine, thank you very much.

With that in mind, perhaps it’s time that the provincial government got its own house in order when it comes to housing that IT has committed itself to, rather than coming down with a heavy hammer on other levels of government.

What thoughts do you have on this matter?

In Kamloops, I’m Alan Forseth.

Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He more recently was involved in the BC Liberal leadership campaign.