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Entries from January 2016

The new foreign property tax: Our Brexit?

July 29th, 2016 · 10 Comments

Is this tax, which I’m told the province decided to implement after looking at some pretty disastrous polling stories three weeks ago, really our version of Brexit? Could it be our (tamer) version of the British vote where people rebelled against the prevailing tide of globalization favoured by governments and the corporate world? (I’m not […]

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Bike-share comes to Vancouver at last, helmets and all

July 20th, 2016 · 18 Comments

So I ambled down to the official announcement of the bike-share launch, held on the picture-perfect seawall with kayakers going by, the glass towers sparkling in the sunshine, and an elderly gentleman playing the street piano nearby. My official Globe story is here, but those of you who know anything about me realize that I’m […]

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The temperature goes up in Vancouver housing wars, with stories on data and racism

July 19th, 2016 · 19 Comments

Just when you think things can’t get any more virulent in Vancouver’s debates over real estate, they do. As far as I can tell, the heat went up starting with the province’s decision two weeks ago to release three weeks worth of data on sales, which showed that about five per cent of Vancouver real […]

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The long, hard battle to make sure housing subsidies go to the right tenants

July 19th, 2016 · 1 Comment

ICYMI, here is my story about a recent court case, where Red Door Housing Society removed the subsidy from a tenant who didn’t report income her daughter had been getting. Now they are being asked to pay $1,990 for their three-bedroom townhouse on the False Creek waterfront, instead of $650. It’s a small glimpse behind […]

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Will the housing crisis finally make someone pay attention to renter issues?

July 11th, 2016 · 25 Comments

That’s what I’m wondering, as the bizarre Vancouver and Toronto real-estate frenzies mean that more people are staying in the rental market for longer — maybe forever. The Globe is doing a series on renter issues. I kicked it off on Saturday with a look at the general picture across the land and a little […]

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The latest data battle: 19 days of sales stats for B.C. and what to believe

July 10th, 2016 · No Comments

The province said it would start collecting data on foreign ownership in June and, this week, Finance MInister Mike de Jong revealed the results from, I’m guessing, the first 19 days of collection. The total of the goverment information is here, which doesn’t answer all the questions I would have had (couldn’t be there because […]

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