Pete's Viewpoint

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." Napoleon Bonaparte I am reminded by the BC Liberals behavior of the Republicans after the roll out of ObamaCare in the USA. They screamed socialism, big government, and a whole lot of other unsavory epithets towards President Obama and the Democrats just for the sin of trying to extend out the universality of healthcare coverage in America. The sin? The individual mandate; where every uninsured American was obligated to seek out insurance. To meet that legal requirement, several states and separately the Federal Government unveiled a subsidized exchange where individuals would be able to purchase a healthcare insurance plan - or subsidized one if they qualified. The Speculation Tax isn't healthcare, but its to address a problem that was left to fester while the last government was still in office. After the BC Liberals deregulated the real estate trade in 2005, handed the oversight to the industry i...

Lets not understate the fact that BC's new speculation tax isn't without controversy. It is. There are some folks unhappy that they're now subject to a tax that didn't exist until now. But lets also discuss why we are here and the big mistake that BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is making. We are here because of the 2005 legislation passed by the BC Liberals to de-regulate the real estate trade. It became a self regulated industry with significantly reduced government oversight. In fact, oversight passed to the industry itself. Land speculation has been a thing since land has been able to be purchased and sold. It can be a high risk venture, but most often pays off well. By deregulation, rules and oversight to said speculation slipped away and the practice of 'shadow-flipping ' took root in some of the province's hottest markets. In short, it allowed shady realtors to manipulate home sales in such a way to make hundreds of thousands extra in commis...