Many do not have choice of two homes

Re: “Carney: Speculation tax threat to rural B.C.,” March 21.

Pat Carney has has a distinguished career as a journalist and parliamentarian. It is with incredulity that I read her statements in which she calls the speculation tax a “threat to rural B.C.”

She states that the two per cent on her second (over $1 million) home in Vancouver is prohibitive and will force her to either sell her home on Saturna Island, where she has roots, or lose her home in Vancouver, which she uses for attending doctor’s appointments and lawyer’s meetings.

That is kind of the idea. In a province where there is insufficient living space for all, prices have been driven beyond the reach of many, particularly young families. Carney has a choice.

Selling a home on Saturna might provide a residence for one of the full-time Saturna residents she refers to who work in the schools and other businesses. Selling her condominium in Vancouver would free up badly needed living space for folks in Vancouver who are unable to find housing. The $1 million conservatively invested would provide more than 160 hotel nights per year at $250 per night, surely enough for doctor and lawyer appointments.

Many people do not have the choice between two homes and are struggling to afford one. If this tax puts pressure on the market to cool off a little and make prices more affordable, then it is doing precisely what is intended.

People should live, work and play in the community they call home. Everything else is a luxury and should be taxed as such.

Jason Wale Victoria