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1. Wynne government delivers another potential blow to housing affordability in Toronto

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, May 26, 2017 The Ontario government has decided to reform the Ontario Municipal Board, a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates land-use planning disputes in Ontario. While this may seem like a minor administrative tweak, it ...

2. B.C. government floats two promising ideas to address affordability and transportation woes

   In recent weeks, the British Columbia government announced big changes in two critical areas for Metro Vancouverites—housing and transportation. The region is short on both homes and taxis (or substitutes such as ride-sharing). The ...

3. Ontario government’s plan—let traffic get worse

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, February 26, 2017 Much of the conversation about the Wynne government’s decision to block Toronto City Council’s plan to toll the Don Valley Parking Lot—Parkway, that is—and the Gardiner Expressway, has focused on the lost ...

4. Toronto needs road tolls to tame gridlock

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, December 10, 2016 Toronto Mayor John Tory wants to introduce road tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway. As is often the case, tolling opponents portray tolling proposals as yet another tax grab by the ...

5. Ontario opposes foreign buyers tax, but housing affordability must be addressed

   Appeared in Toronto Sun, November 6, 2016 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced that the province will not introduce a property transfer tax on foreign buyers, similar to that introduced in British Columbia. The premier and her government should be ...

6. Red tape in Calgary stifling housing supply as home prices soar

   Average house prices up almost 140 per cent in Calgary and more than 160 per cent in Edmonton. ...

7. Retroactive nature of new tax on foreign owners threatens rule of law, investment in B.C.

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Aug. 5, 2016 Mike de Jong, B.C.’s finance minister, recently and unexpectedly announced an additional property transfer tax of 15 per cent on foreign nationals purchasing residential property in Metro Vancouver. Whatever the ...

8. Allow housing supply to react to housing demand in Toronto, Vancouver and beyond

   To date, the discussion on housing affordability, dominated by handwringing over foreign homebuyers and low interest rates, has primarily focused on demand-side issues while ignoring the fact that when a good is in high-demand, it ...

9. Red tape drives Canada’s housing affordability woes—not foreign buyers

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, July 28, 2016 Foreign nationals purchasing homes in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area is a topic that continues to make national headlines, especially as housing prices rise. This came to a head recently when B.C ...

10. Foreign purchase tax ignores crucial source of unaffordability in Vancouver—dearth of supply

    Appeared in the Vancouver Province, July 27, 2016 In response to the fear that foreign homebuyers are driving up Vancouver housing prices, the provincial government has decided to introduce an additional 15 per cent property transfer tax on foreign home ...