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LETTERS: Residents not speculating

Editor: The NDP Speculation Tax is suggesting we are responsible for driving up B.C. housing costs.
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Editor:

Speculation is defined as the “assumption of unusual business risks in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain” by Merriam-Webster.

The NDP in B.C. have recently introduced a speculation tax for people who own property and do not pay taxes there. Their intent is to “tax speculators who are driving up housing costs and removing rental stock.”

On a property with an assessed value of $ 1 million, it will mean an additional tax of $5,000 in the fall of 2018 and a further $20,000 per year starting in 2019.

My wife and I purchased a condo in White Rock so we could be closer to our daughters and grandchildren. Our main residence is in Manitoba, and we maintain a residence in White Rock for our extended stays of up to five-plus months per year.

When in B.C., we live there as full-time residents who support the local economy in every manner possible.

We definitely do not fit the definition of speculators and, if we ever sell our White Rock property, we fully understand there could be a profit or a loss, just as every other Canadian who owns property anywhere else in Canada.

The NDP Speculation Tax is a severe detriment to us financially and is discriminating against us by suggesting we are responsible for driving up B.C. housing costs.

This tax should target those who are the real speculators, not fellow Canadians who own real estate in B.C. but whose main residence is elsewhere in Canada.

We feel the government should revisit the introduction of this tax and re-examine its intent “to crack down on speculators who distort our market.”

Robert Friesen, White Rock