B.C.’s incoming premier’s promise to scrap housing legislation brought in by the previous government is being welcomed by some and criticized by others. Premier designate Lorne Doerkson has said he plans to get rid of housing targets and repeal legislation that enabled multiplexes to be built without rezoning—measures the B.C. NDP brought in in an effort to increase the supply of affordable homes across the province. The province, Doerkson has argued, should not be telling local governments what to build or where. Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch agrees wholeheartedly. “The tone I’ve heard from premier-elect Doerkson is that they’re really looking to work with municipalities on housing,” said Murdoch Tuesday. Murdoch says while increasing density is a goal shared by his community, the B.C. NDP was overreaching when it came to housing—and left residents feeling powerless. “Because the province imposed a top-down model, we’ve actually had a lot more negative feedback to housing since then,” Murdoch said. Oak Bay was one municipality issued a “directive” by the previous government to amend local bylaws after the municipality fell short of provincial targets by delivering 16 of 56 net-new units. Luk Mari is a Victoria-based developer who heads up Aryze Developments. He is concerned the government will fully repeal Bill 44. “Bill 44 is much more than just multiplexes. If you want to get rid of mutliplexes, get rid of multiplexes but there’s lots of other legislation that’s incredibly valuable to homebuilders,” Mari said “Be careful that going back to the old way of delivering housing is actually adding more red tape. By peeling bac some of these policies we’re doing the complete opposite of what this incoming government has said they would like to do,” he continued.
