By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: May 30, 2018
West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy says the new provincial taxation system will negatively impact families and businesses in the area. Some of the proposed measures including the speculation tax, the increases school tax as well as the new employers’ health tax will negatively impact the economy. 
“This government feels they have the right to take a portion of people’s assets every year and that is after they have paid their taxes. I am just not comfortable with the way people are being taxed just for owning a property.”
In an interview with the Squamish Reporter, Sturdy said the slew of taxes being forced on the province by the provincial government will push seniors to sell their homes especially in West Vancouver.
It will, he said, eventually hurt affordability as developers shift some of the tax costs to buyers, and negatively impact the provincial economy by making it onerous for developers to develop and people to buy and sell property. Sturdy said the impact isn’t just limited to West Vancouver and will also be felt in Whistler as well as certain areas in Vancouver such as Point Grey.
“This government feels they have the right to take a portion of people’s assets every year and that is after they have paid their taxes. I am just not comfortable with the way people are being taxed just for owning a property. And they are assuming these people have lot of equity, but that depends on when that property was purchased,” he said.
The speculation tax, he said, proved to be a poorly planned tax. “While it is more of an asset tax than a speculation tax, there is no regard for the length of time a property is owned. So poorly planned was this tax that less than a month after announcing the tax, the government scrambled to make a series of amendments,” he noted.
Sturdy said the additional taxes will also impact the private sector’s ability to create housing and impact jobs generated by the real estate sector. A developer thinking of developing land would have to pay extra fees and extra property transfer tax as well as speculation tax on bare lots.
By the time a developer ends up building a rental unit, they would be left with no option but to pass that cost to those who rent the buildings.
The school tax on homes over $3 million will force people in West Vancouver out of their homes while the speculation and higher property transfer taxes will eventually be passed on new owners, making housing even more unaffordable, Sturdy says.
“It will force people out of their homes. That will inevitably be the outcome in certain cases, and without the private sector feeling positive, they won’t be able to bring supply to the market and that will impact housing affordability,” he said.
Sturdy said the Liberal party caucus estimated that the taxes could cost $1 billion to the provincial economy but said they are committed to inform and mobilise the community against these taxes.
