Chinese investments in Vancouver real estate need more oversight: David Mulroney
March 30, 2015 |
Canada’s former ambassador to China David Mulroney says the government needs to get a better handle on it’s relationship with China – and that includes a thorough look at Chinese investments in Vancouver’s real estate market.
“We need to be more aware, more on the ball. We want to be a welcoming society, but aware of the potential downsides for Vancouver,” Mulroney said Monday in a discussion about his new book, Middle Power, Middle Kingdom.
Mulroney, the ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012, cited Vancouver’s real estate market as a subset of the larger issue of Canada not paying close enough attention to China, which he calls the country’s emerging foreign policy challenge and opportunity.
“China is already our second most important trading partner,” he said. “It’s not about not liking or liking China, it’s about intelligently managing our relationship.”
The government should better track foreign ownership of local real estate so it can create policies to address unintended consequences such as pricing locals out of the market or lifeless neighbourhoods of vacant condos, Mulroney said.
Australia, for example, stipulates that foreign buyers can only purchase new homes while other jurisdictions apply different taxes.
Canada should also be mindful that China is the world’s largest source of hot money, he said.
“It would be foolish and imprudent of us not to pay close attention,” he said.
His bottom line is that Canada can benefit from its attractiveness to foreign buyers, but that there should be a conversation about what the country wants going forward.
Mulroney is speaking at his book launch at U.B.C. on Tuesday evening.
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