National

B.C. Premier David Eby's housing bills move ahead

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Nov, 2022 12:12 PM

VICTORIA - The first two pieces of legislation proposed by Premier David Eby have passed second reading and return to the legislature today as he follows through on a pledge to act quickly on key issues facing British Columbia.

The Housing Supply Act and Building and Strata Statutes Amendment Act both passed Tuesday after time limits were imposed on debate.

Big problems demand bold action. I'm committed to building a province where everyone has the opportunity for a good home.

Here's how ➡️ https://t.co/orr0KYAmx9 pic.twitter.com/kv8mXgwnJ3
— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) November 23, 2022

New Democrats and the two Green Party members voted in favour while Opposition Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon and the other 25 BC Liberal members opposed the bills.

The legislation aims to increase housing supply with measures that will end several rental restrictions and have the potential to force local governments to meet housing growth targets.

Criticism of the bills includes concern that housing growth targets aren't clearly defined, potentially affecting everything from official community plans to efforts to limit urban sprawl or address climate adaptation.

With the fall session set to conclude Thursday, Eby must move quickly after being sworn-in less than a week ago following former premier John Horgan's decision to give up the leadership for health reasons.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

3 people victim of armed robbery and assault in New Westminster

Police were called to the scene after a group of three people were approached by two people with firearms. One suspect pointed a firearm at one of the victims and struck him in the face before taking the victim’s bag.

3 people victim of armed robbery and assault in New Westminster

Rogers' five-day refund not enough: legal expert

Rogers Communications Inc.'s move to credit its customers with the equivalent of five days of service following the massive outage that crippled its network last week is "wholly inadequate," a legal expert said. Payments could not occur, sales were missed, meetings were missed, work could not be done, and businesses could not operate fully, so damages would be broader than that, Leblanc explained.

Rogers' five-day refund not enough: legal expert

Bank of Canada hikes rate to 2.5%, biggest jump since 1998

Our goal is to get inflation back to its 2% target with a soft landing for the economy. To accomplish that, we are increasing our policy interest rate quickly to prevent high inflation from becoming entrenched. If it does, it will be more painful for the economy—and for Canadians—to get inflation back down.

Bank of Canada hikes rate to 2.5%, biggest jump since 1998

Rogers to credit customers 5 days service after massive network outage

The widespread Rogers service outage began on Friday morning and lasted at least 15 hours, knocking out access to many health-care, law enforcemen, 911, passport, and banking services. Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri has attributed the outage to a network system failure after a maintenance update, adding that the "vast majority" of customers were back online.

Rogers to credit customers 5 days service after massive network outage

Woman violently assaulted by two strangers early Monday morning

Residents near West 10th and Waterloo Street may see additional officers patrolling and knocking on doors. The suspects were men in their 20s who had their faces covered.

Woman violently assaulted by two strangers early Monday morning

Provinces still waiting on $2B for surgery backlog

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the one-time top-up to "expedite" surgeries on March 25, and he and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced a bill in the House of Commons the same day to enable the funding.