The opinion piece submitted by Ben Pereira is a bit misleading and does not take into account the real impact of Airbnbs and empty homes.
First, he does not explain why there are so many empty homes. Are these bought up by people outside the Yukon? Are people just parking their money? Does the Yukon not have an empty home tax to address this issue? This is what's happening in British Columbia. B.C. has an empty home tax to force those back into the market because people from outside B.C. are buying up homes and condos to park their money.
Parksville, B.C., has people with multiple condos that were being used for Airbnb instead of rentals. We have seen an increase in rentals come on the market, so Ben is not giving all the facts.
Second, we should be going back and looking at how the rental market was before 2009 and how after 2009, when Airbnb came into the market. He can't deny it has had a large affect in cities.
This is not just a political issue. This is a housing issue whether the business community likes it or not and they are partly to blame along with governments. Between people parking money, Airbnbs and allowing too many immigrants into Canada, we run into housing issues.
It's important we look at all the facts and factors instead of being selective to win your point. I agree this can be a political issue but when you let companies affect the market to the point of disrupting the equilibrium then government needs to take action to bring balance back.
Don't completely listen to business when they say it has had a negative impact. Businesses forget people are feeling the pinch of inflation on everyday living. When that happens people have to cut back and usually that means vacations are a want, not a need. Again, businesses that are in the Airbnb industry are throwing a red herring out there when saying it's affecting tourism. It's affecting them. Vancouver Island has been extremely busy this year.
Reducing Airbnb, taxing empty homes and reducing immigration until we have a sustainable model is the way to go. In B.C., limiting Airbnb and taxing empty homes (homes that are secondary homes, not your primary residence) has had a positive affect. We won't know for a year or so to see the full impact.
The Yukon needs to look at the empty homes and find out what is causing this and take action. Some people will call this big government, but it's not.
I would love to see a law indicating no foreign ownership of land and only allowed to own one condo if not a Canadian. For those that don't like this, just look at the countries around the world who have this policy in place. Also, look at a province in Canada that has a law in place. This is not a new idea but since money has become global and people are parking money in other countries using real estate, it's something our country and provinces need to start looking at. It has really harmed B.C. for over 20 years thanks to successive governments.
Stephen Kushniruk
Parksville, B.C.
