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B.C. premier rejects Green call for foreign buyers ban days before Asia visit

B.C. premier rejects Green call for foreign buyers ban days before Asia visit | iNFOnews.ca
B.C. NDP leader John Horgan discussing forestry in front of the Domtar pulp mill in Kamloops, March 27, 2017. Brendan Kergin

VICTORIA – Premier John Horgan says he has plans to tone down speculation in British Columbia's real estate market but banning foreign buyers is not one of them.

Horgan says he rejects recent calls by Green party Leader Andrew Weaver to implement a New Zealand-style law that restricts the purchase of existing homes to residents of New Zealand and Australia.

Horgan says the government's February budget will include measures to dampen speculation and increase housing supply, but not a prohibition on foreign buyers.

He says he is prepared to face questions about B.C.'s real estate market during his trade visit to China, Korea and Japan that starts Saturday.

The former Liberal government introduced a 15-per-cent tax on foreign buyers purchasing real estate in Metro Vancouver in an effort to allow more B.C. residents to buy homes.

Horgan says a ban on foreign buyers sends the wrong signals to investors about B.C.'s open economy.

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Marshall Jones

News is best when it's local, relevant, timely and interesting. That's our focus every day.

We are on the ground in Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops to bring you the stories that matter most.

Marshall may call West Kelowna home, but after 16 years in local news and 14 in the Okanagan, he knows better than to tell readers in other communities what is "news' to them. He relies on resident reporters to reflect their own community priorities and needs. As the newsroom leader, his job is making those reporters better, ensuring accuracy, fairness and meeting the highest standards of journalism.

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