From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Vancouver, BC, Canada / (CKNW AM) - May 23, 2015   
      
      
   Vancouver's Mayor clarifies possible speculation tax   
      
      
   Just one day after announcing he had asked the province to help curb   
   Vancouver's rising house prices, Mayor Gregor Robertson is speaking out about   
   his proposed speculation tax.   
      
   Robertson spoke to Shane Woodford on the Sean Leslie show on Saturday.   
      
   He says he has asked the Provincial Government to offer more support for first   
   time home owners, and to crack down on empty homes around the city.   
      
   "The market has just been on such a roll for a long period of time now, that   
   it has made it impossible for people in low or middle incomes to get in the   
   market...and we have enormous pressure on our rental market as well."   
      
   Robertson says more needs to be done to put penalties on those who are buying   
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   and selling property on the market as opposed to permanent home owners.   
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   "We have a real problem with the market skyrocketing in Vancouver, and it's so   
   hard for first time home owners to get into the market."   
      
   He says these kinds of efforts could help lower real estate prices.   
      
   "Decades ago we saw lots of rental housing and co-ops being built. That   
   support disappeared over the years, now the federal government needs to come   
   back to the table."   
      
   Robertson says that after Premier Christy Clark acknowledged the affordability   
   crisis, he is hopeful change will come.   
   _________________________________   
      
   Don't hold your breath waiting for Christy Clark to do anything meaningful on   
   this issue, Mayor Robertson . . .  her support is dependent on ethnic votes   
   and it's ethnics that are behind the majority of the home-buying speculation.   
      
   Do what you can without 'provincial approval'.   
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