B.C. election campaign wraps second week [Video]

As the provincial election campaign reaches the halfway mark, the party leaders made pitches to voters on bread-and-butter issues: housing, child care and jobs.

The BC NDP announced that if they win another mandate to govern, they will double the speculation and vacancy tax so that Canadians with empty homes would pay 1 per cent and non-Canadians would pay 3 per cent of the home’s assessed value.

• Full coverage: B.C. election 2024

“We’re taking the side of the average British Columbian who works hard, plays by the rules, deserves a decent home,” David Eby told reporters in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighbourhood. “It’s very easy to avoid this tax. We have a very giant loophole that you can walk through – there’s an arrow pointing to it – rent out your vacant home, don’t pay the tax, make extra money from rent.”

He added that he’d be fine without making any extra tax revenue, as long as more homes are available to live in. …