B.C. city wants exemption from proposed real estate speculation tax
VICTORIA — Communities across British Columbia are speaking out against the province’s proposed speculation tax on real estate, saying the levy could damage their economies.
The Regional District of Nanaimo joined West Kelowna on Wednesday in asking the NDP government to rethink the tax, introduced in last month’s budget.
West Kelowna council voted unanimously to seek an exemption from the proposed tax covering the entire community of 35,000 people in the Okanagan.
The Nanaimo Regional District board, representing much of central Vancouver Island, also voted unanimously to “object to the speculation tax in any form, in any region or municipality in B.C.