MAYOR PUSHES FOR TALKS OVER ‘CRISIS’ IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The mayor of Canada’s most expensive city wants to talk with the federal finance minister about the “unprecedented housing-affordability crisis,” but the meeting will have to wait until the B.C.’s political landscape is determined. In a letter dated this month, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson wrote to federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, requesting a meeting to focus on three areas: “affordability and the disconnect between local incomes and housing costs; efforts to combat tax evasion in the housing market; and local and global speculation in Vancouver real estate.” Robertson wrote he was “encouraged to see the federal government taking steps to work with the City of Toronto and the province of Ontario to address issues in their housing market,” and requested a meeting because “Vancouver is facing many similar issues.”