Editor:
I do not agree with the province’s recently announced 15 per cent tax on foreign purchases of homes. Firstly, it will not make homes in Vancouver affordable for the middle class. At an average price of $1.4 million, it would require something like 140 per cent of the average income to buy one. Even if the price fell by half, it would still require about 65 per cent of income. Besides, where is it written that home ownership in Vancouver is a right?
Secondly, the provincial government is interfering in the free market and in private property. Many seniors are or were relying on their home equity for their retirement. The government has introduced another unnecessary unknown in this equation.
Thirdly, this tax will likely be challenged under NAFTA since it is discriminatory. The government will lose.
Fourthly, the market hates uncertainty and the perception of high and potentially higher tax rates. Hence, wealthy individuals and the resultant investments in both real estate and business will go elsewhere.
This reaction has been demonstrated in liquefied natural gas evanescence. Not a single export facility is likely to be built in B.C. because of the perceived tax grab and resultant uncertainty of provincial policy on that issue. Sadly, it appears that lessons are slow to be learned.
Gordon Politeski, Halfmoon Bay
