 Thank you very much for joining us this morning to talk about the important issue of housing. I'd like to begin by acknowledging we're on the territory of Laquungen speaking peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, and I would also like to begin by sharing that I understand that there is a very serious police-involved incident in Prince Rupert this morning that sounds incredibly troubling and that our thoughts and certainly our hearts go out to everybody affected by that incident this morning and we have limited details right now but certainly all British Columbians are thinking of the people of Prince Rupert right now. I'm joined this morning by Murray Rankin, the Minister for Housing among other important titles, Attorney General, Minister for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, the new Mayor of Victoria, Marianne Alto, has joined us this morning, and Oma Shoeb has joined us as well. She is a nurse and a new arrival to Victoria from Alberta and we're really glad to have her here. She's going to share a little bit of her experience with us today. We are at the legislature today but a short walk away down the street in almost all directions. You'll find busy construction sites of housing being built. For example, 1025 Johnson Street. It's opening soon. It has 130 units of affordable housing built on top of a new community fire hall. It's an example of the kind of housing we need across the province of British Columbia right now. We are seeing a remarkable thing here in British Columbia which is that people are coming to this province in record numbers. We had more than 100,000 people move to BC last year and our housing supply is not keeping up. Now British Columbians rightly have a vision of a province where when you're ready to move out of your parents house and start your life that you can start a family that you can move from renting potentially to even owning your own place, moving up the property ladder and it's a vision that feels out of reach for far too many British Columbians because of the pressure in our housing market right now. Now we've addressed important issues of speculation in our housing market with the speculation and vacancy tax, making sure that empty homes are not used as investments but instead provide housing for people in our province. We have 20,000 homes brought back onto the market through that initiative. We have 36,000 new affordable homes that are either under construction or completed right now across the province BC housing, one of the largest residential housing developers in North America building affordable housing. We need homes for people who keep our province running for the bus drivers, the teachers, the construction workers and so many more. But with that record population I was talking about, we need to respond quickly. We can't slow down. And so that's why I'm excited to be announcing two incredibly important housing bills to make sure that we can deliver the housing that all British Columbians need. These bills focus on the immediate term, making sure that we're not leaving any housing on the table when families and individuals are searching for housing that every housing unit is used to its maximum potential. And the other focused on the medium to long term, making sure that we're working with municipalities to deliver the housing that British Columbians need. First in relation to strata rules, it is simply unacceptable that a British Columbian who is searching Craigslist for a place to rent can't find a home and somebody who owns a condo is not permitted to rent that home to that individual. It is equally unacceptable that a young couple that lives in a condo and decides to start a family has to start searching for a new home because that strata has a rule that everybody who lives in the unit has to be 19 years of age or older. Responding to the housing crisis means making sure that housing units that are available to be rented are actually rented and provide housing to British Columbians. Responding to the housing crisis means not forcing people to move simply because they decide to start a family. The first bill that was introduced in the legislature will end those rental restrictions in about 300,000 units across the province. Our data from the speculation and vacancy tax indicates that in speculation and vacancy tax areas there are 2,900 units where owners made an application for an exemption from the tax because they were not permitted to rent their vacant home. We need to bring those homes onto the market for British Columbians to rent. I was contacted in my previous role as housing minister by a couple that was pregnant. They were expecting a child and they could not believe that the law in British Columbia would allow for them to be evicted from their home because they decided to start a family, which is why we're eliminating that rule. But there are two clear authorities for strata's that I want to make sure British Columbians understand will be maintained. First of all these changes will have no effect on seniors only housing. That 55 plus restriction will continue in seniors housing. Seniors need housing in our province and that rule makes sense to British Columbians. The second is strata rules around short-term rentals or air B and B rentals. Stratas will still be able to restrict short-term rentals in their buildings and in fact in legislative sessions to come will be introducing additional restrictions allowing municipalities to more closely regulate short-term rentals. The second bill sets out a framework for how the province is going to work with cities to respond to this massive spike in our population to make sure that we see housing as essential infrastructure. Housing is a key role for muni- delivering housing as a key role for municipalities and they need the support of the province to achieve the numbers that we need in British Columbia. This framework sets out a mutually agreed target to hit in terms of the kind of housing that municipalities already know they need because of housing needs studies that we've supported them to do. It makes sure that the province is working with cities to actually deliver the housing that we all know we need and we do so in partnership and it also puts teeth into those housing needs studies. It allows municipalities to speak to their residents and say we need to deliver this housing it is an expectation of the province and allows the province to support cities working with the federal government to make sure they have everything they need to deliver this housing. I'm incredibly excited about this legislation and with that I would like to welcome up Minister Murray Rankin to share a few remarks about these bills and I'd certainly like to express my appreciation to him for introducing those bills in the legislature. Mr. Rankin. Good morning thank you Premier. I too would like to acknowledge firstly that we are gathered in the territory of the Laquungen speaking peoples this song he's in the Squymalt nations. For too long the housing crisis has been pricing British Columbians out of the market denying them opportunities to get ahead. For too many people families seniors and young people they've been unable to find an affordable home to rent or to own and they've been forced to leave the communities that they call home. The crisis is hurting people and ultimately it's hurting our economy and it's unacceptable. That's why in budget 2018 we launched Homes for BC government's housing plan and the largest investment in housing in the history of this province seven billion dollars over ten years. Through this plan we're building homes that people need and improving security for renters as well. Under our government more than 36,000 new affordable homes are completed or underway in over 100 communities in every part of this province. We're also moderating housing crisis by increasing supply curbing speculative demand and tackling fraud and money laundering in the real estate market. Yet despite these actions it's no secret to anyone that we're in a housing crisis. Simply put supply has not kept up with the demand. Across BC and around the world costs have been increasing especially when it comes to housing making it hard for people to find suitable homes and we know BC has experienced record population growth so we need more housing now more than ever before. The province cannot increase housing in isolation however municipalities are critical partners in addressing these challenges and they are essential in building healthy communities. Over the past couple of years we've seen some great examples of hard work by some municipalities to streamline processes and open open houses quickly. Places like right here in Victoria also in Kamloops, North Vancouver and Langley great examples. Other municipalities however are struggling to approve enough housing mainly because they're working with outdated processes and cumbersome oversight policies that prevent them from adequately responding to this enormous demand. Rejecting affordable housing processes because of concerns over parking lot designs for example or shadow bands is not acceptable to British Columbians in a crisis like we're facing. We believe the best way forward is to work together with municipalities to address this crisis and act urgently to deliver the right type of housing at the right place at the right time. That's why today we're taking action to deliver more good homes for people. First we're introducing bold new legislation to speed up housing development and get new homes built faster. The housing supply act will allow government to set housing targets in those municipalities with the greatest need and the highest projected growth. Our aim with this legislation is to make it easier for municipalities to approve housing. This legislation will allow us to do that in several important ways. First it enables the minister responsible for housing to review the housing needs reports already produced by municipalities to ensure that they accurately forecast housing needs in those communities. Second the bill gives the province authority to work with a specified municipality based on that need including setting targets for rental housing for affordable housing for social housing. Municipalities are our partners in addressing this crisis and we will continue to honor and respect their autonomy and the knowledge that they have of their communities. Together we'll set timelines to achieve targets and monitor progress to ensure that we're on schedule. The targets will be phased in at the municipal level not on a regional basis or a provincial level once the act is brought into force in early 2023. We'll be starting with eight to 10 municipalities with the greatest need and the highest projected growth. This legislation will help us create more housing where it's needed most and it'll provide a diversity of housing options so British Columbians can stay in their communities so their housing needs are met. Another option for many people of course is rental. BC has more renters per capita than any part of Canada but vacancy rates are extremely low. That's why we're introducing amendments today to the Strato Property Act to expand housing options for strato owners, prospective buyers and renters in a tight housing market. Once passed these amendments will end strato rental restrictions and that will be effective immediately on passage of that law. In exceptional cases where there are concerns about a problem renter for example the residential tenancy branch guidelines have been updated to state that a strata corporation can issue a notice to end a tenancy and apply to the residential tenancy branch for dispute resolution in place of the landlord. In addition we're limiting age restriction bylaws to age 55 and over in strata housing. These amendments will open up more rental and home ownership options for people at a time when they're needing it more than ever. Strata rules that ban families with children from living in a home or stop people from renting out their condo that they own they're no longer acceptable in a housing crisis. So by way of conclusion these actions are part of our work to increase housing supply in BC and they pave the way for a more affordable, livable province. There's more work to do to ensure everyone in BC has access to the houses that they need and you'll see more action from our government on this front as we continue to tackle the housing crisis head on by taking bold new steps as we have today. For now I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed to making this important legislation a reality. Premier David Ebe who spearheaded much of this work during his time as minister responsible for housing. The municipalities and indigenous peoples who provided feedback on these collaborative new measures and staff from the ministry of the attorney general who supported the engagement and drafted this legislation. I thank them sincerely for all their great work. Without this their contributions this historic legislation would simply not have been possible. I'd now like to welcome to the stage o Mama Shoib to talk about how actions will help people like her. Thank you. Hi my name is o Mama Shoib. I moved here from Alberta about a year and a half ago and I work as a harm reduction nurse in downtown Victoria. When I moved here I was very excited to start my new career and my job in British Columbia. What I didn't expect was to be hamstrung because I could not find a place to live. It was a full-time job trying to find an option for myself and housing was just very difficult to come by and it's a job that I couldn't do because I was packing up my life in Alberta. There was a point where I thought I might have to decline my job offer which is just such an awful thought but eventually I was able to find a rental for myself. I just couldn't help but think of all the people that are less fortunate than I am, people that are living with disabilities, people that are out of work, those that are living in precariously housed, and those that are living with mental health and substance use challenges. It really shouldn't be this hard. That's why I think the initiatives taken by the BC government today are a step in the right direction. I think that it's easier for people to see and pursue their dreams here if they want to come here. They're able to think that yeah I can find housing here. I think these steps taken today are going to open up the housing market and make it make more breathing room in the housing market for everyone and make it easier for people like myself among others. And positive the steps taken today are for people like myself and I'm hopeful for what the growth may look like for homeowners and renters like. Thank you. Welcome Mary-Annaldo. Thank you for the stool as well. Thank you omama. I wanted to just start actually by thanking you for your service, in particular for your commitment to being a nurse. Good heavens, we need so many more of you. Thanks for coming today. I would also like to start by acknowledging that we're gathered here in the traditional territories of Lilacuangan speaking people, the song he's in Esquimalt Nations. Always grateful for their generosity and allowing us to be here. And thank you Premier Evie and Minister for your work. I really want to say that as Mayor of Victoria I really welcome this legislation today. I welcome the Premier's introduction of it, the way he's done it inclusively and the details that will be shared or have been shared with you already. This is a remarkable day for us municipally around what we can do to create additional housing. I also want to thank them for including Victoria in this announcement today. I think that we have shown that some remarkably progressive policies already, but we look forward to joining the province and more. This housing supply act will give our city and other municipalities another critically important tool to create homes for our current and future residents. And to house the people who now call Victoria home and who want to call Victoria home their place too. The City of Victoria has already taken a number of very important steps to simplify building processes and to accelerate the building of affordable housing. But we can't do enough of it fast enough alone. We need the province to support and push us to push all local governments to make building more and more affordable homes in every neighbourhood in every municipality across BC. I'm confident that my new council will welcome the provincial government's leadership in setting expectations and benchmarks for increasing the availability and affordability of homes for Victorians. And I will urge my colleagues in local government across the region to do the same. The demand for homes across the spectrum of affordability is critical in all of our municipalities across the Capital Regional District and across British Columbia. And I really hope that local leaders across BC will embrace the opportunity to be guided by this legislation so that we can create more housing for all of our residents. Local and provincial governments must work together to fulfill our commitments to build the housing that people and our cities deserve and want and need across the affordability spectrum. Premier, I look forward to working with you on this important file. I urge my colleagues across BC to do the same. And I know that we can meet your expectations for additional affordable housing because we must meet those expectations because they are the expectations of our residents and our residents to be. Thanks very much. Thank you, Worship, very much for those comments. At this point, I'd like to invite any questions from the media. If you have a question for someone other than me, just let me know and we'll get that person up to the podium. Thank you very much. A reminder to reporters on the line, please press star one to enter the queue for the opportunity to ask a question and a follow-up. We will be starting here in the room as the reporters are already queued behind the mic. First question comes from Richard Zussman, Global News. Premier, there are certain municipalities that you are targeting here that have not kept up with what their communities need and can you speak about what specific powers the housing minister will have if those municipalities after an assessment is done does not move forward with those housing? Is there a time frame they have or tools the province will use? Thanks, Richard. This bill is not targeted at any particular municipality. It's targeted at the relationship that the province has with cities and the demands that every British Columbian has the reasonable belief that we will work together to address the housing crisis by building the housing that's needed with the population growth that we're seeing in British Columbia the demand for housing has never been higher and the only way that we're going to be able to address that is for the province to accept our responsibility at around our own permit times around providing infrastructure supports for cities funds for fast-growing cities for amenities for new neighbours that's our job and we also have to work with cities to make sure that they're delivering on their part that they're making sure their cities work for everybody and that there's housing for folks who need it who are looking right now and so that's that's what it's really aimed at it's about the relationship between the province and the cities on this essential infrastructure for every British Columbian that's looking for a decent home. The second component of your question this bill sets out very clear benchmarks and expectations both on the part of the province and on the part of the cities that we need to meet that we have to work together to set these targets that we have to work together to identify why targets aren't being hit and to address those issues and I'm happy to say the federal government is also on side with this they have their federal accelerator fund all aimed at one very straightforward thing making sure that the homes are built so that people who are out there looking for a place to live for themselves for their family are able to find it follow up Richard when you announced your housing plan during the short-lived NDP leadership campaign you laid out a few different things the big pieces were a flipping tax and the secondary secondary suite legalization neither of those things appear today are those too complicated are they still coming and I know I asked about this on Friday but we're talking housing you're also looking at a renters rebate that hasn't been rolled out are you saving all of these things for before an election so legislation like this doesn't show up overnight this is the product of extensive work with key community stakeholders like municipal governments like home builders like British Columbians making sure that it will be effective we don't want to do half measures that aren't going to work we want pieces in place that are going to deliver housing that people can see that they can rent that they can buy that they can actually afford that is the goal that we have here at the provincial government level and cities are an essential partner in that there are a number of initiatives that our government needs to take around housing this is not the end nor is at the beginning we've done a lot of work this is one more piece in our journey to deliver affordable housing to British Columbians and British Columbians will see more from us on this pressing issue for so many people in our province justine hunter global mail i premiere this talks about in the briefing we're told about 300 000 strata units that might be freed up because of these changes this seems like the most immediate change but do you have an idea of how many units would actually come on the market because it doesn't mean just because you've changed it that they would automatically change hands yeah thanks for the opportunity to clarify justine so the best estimate that staff have been able to come up with is that there are about 300 000 condo units across the province that are covered by rental bands currently these are buildings that would have been built before 2010 when the rules changed and new strata buildings were no longer allowed to put rental restrictions in place so of that pool of 300 000 condos we don't know how many will be up for rent the best number that we can offer is that we know that 2900 people 2900 units uh there were applications under the speculation and vacancy tax saying look i haven't rented out my condo but i can't because there's a rental ban in the building and by definition the speculation and vacancy tax is an additional home that is vacant and so our hope is that those homes will quickly come on to the market to be rented i've met with many people who want to rent homes i've met with many people who want to make that housing available to rent out that condo that is under a rental ban currently we know we need those people to come together it makes no sense that people are searching for housing and people want to rent housing but there's a strata rule that prevents that from happening it hasn't been acceptable in new buildings since 2010 and in the housing crisis we need to open up that housing right away follow it suggestion here is that a local government shouldn't be able to block a density application based on concerns for example about parking i'm just wondering are there scenarios where a local government would be able to legitimately say no to density what we're hoping to do with this legislation is to change the conversation um so it's not project by project where a series of small decisions results in the problem that we're facing of not enough housing for people that are looking for a place to live instead they were looking at the big picture how much housing do we need and then working with cities about how that target is going to be hit cities have an important role where is the housing going to be what is it going to look like how is it going to mix in with the rest of the community but the discussion can't anymore be about whether or not that housing goes ahead we are desperate for the housing in the province we've seen massive increases in our population here people need a place to rent they need a place to buy and they can't rent or buy if the housing's never been built so we're counting on cities to be good partners in this and i believe they will be and i can assure municipal leaders that will be good partners the federal government is stepping up with their accelerator program all of us together working to address the housing crisis is how we're going to deliver for those folks who are looking for housing right now next question robshaw check news premier could you be very specific in what orders you see the housing minister using here i'm still struggling to understand a municipality blows its housing needs targets can you order them to approve a housing project they've rejected can you order them to rezone an entire area for up up density without a public hearing like what specifically could you do in this situation what are you planning to do with those orders thanks this uh legislation to my mind sets out a framework for cooperation a framework for negotiation and working together to deliver for british columbians and it will be paired with a fund to support fast-growing cities that are hitting their targets to make sure that they have the amenities that they have the infrastructure to make communities livable for the people that live in those cities and so that cooperative piece is really important to me but there is a portion of the bill that speaks about what happens when we can't reach agreement what happens when we can't get to the place of recognizing that housing is essential infrastructure that every municipality and the the province needs to be a part of delivering and in that situation it creates the a possibility of an advisor going into the municipality to identify what the issues are that are preventing that municipality from hitting the targets and that advisor can provide a number of recommendations to government that a particular project be approved that a particular zoning be put in place that some other kind of response that will ensure the housing is delivered gets made it does create the ability for the executive council for cabinet to make an order ultimately for a city to do any one of these things to approve a building to rezone an area and so on but my hope is that we never have to use that that is not what this bill is about this bill is about building that framework so we never get to that place but it does have teeth and it needs to have teeth to make sure that we're hitting these goals and and i want to assure municipal leaders that i hold the province to the same standard we need to do better on permits we need to provide support to cities and we will do so follow it aside of the housing needs assessment report the advisor that you just mentioned appointing and the recommendations that are made is your government going to intervene on projects like for example your attorney general mentioned when shadows or parking caused a project to be rejected which has happened in oak bay will you intervene and approve over top of a municipality a project without waiting for the housing needs assessment and the advisor and the recommendations or do you need that process to happen the bill sets out a series of steps that need to be taken and you could see them as a series of escalating interventions we don't go immediately to stepping into a community and saying you must approve this you must approve that there are a series of cooperative steps and the reason why the bill is built in that way is that's our intention our intention is to work cooperatively not to force a city that's unable to meet the goal because of some issue that's beyond their control if there's an issue that's beyond their control let's identify it let's address it together whatever it is because we have to have the shared goal of delivering housing for British Columbians who need that housing and so this sets out the framework so that by the time we get to the end it's absolutely clear what the issue is and the province needs to step in so there's no confusion about that but it sets out a series of cooperative steps before it gets to that point which is absolutely important in my mind that the province and the cities are working together for people looking for housing right now next question rob buffham ctv vancouver island good morning premier when you came out with your housing plan back in september another item of it was that you were going to eliminate the rule whereby single family homes would exist in a spot without being able to basically said three units could go where a single family home had been that's conspicuously absent from this plan victoria had a missing middle project which has not gone ahead yet why why haven't you included the three units for one as part of this policy given how dire this crisis is i set out some proposals for british columbian leadership campaign i remain committed to those but there's work that has to happen on many of those proposals around the bc builds proposal around the rental housing preservation fund around allowing people to build three units on an existing footprint these are all critical pieces that need to be delivered but we're going to go through the process and work through with key stakeholders to make sure that any interventions we make whether those are others actually work and that they will deliver housing for british columbians and they'll be effective for what we want and so this british columbians should see this announcement as a continuation of our work on housing and they will see us accelerating our work on housing going forward with many different proposals that that i'm really excited about follow up yeah i'm just wondering about people who are living on the street for example in victoria there was a woman who died last week when her tent caught on fire as i understand today's announcement it's primarily middle or long-term projects or people who might want to get into a strata why is there nothing in this announcement that relates to homeless people on the street and providing for them so this announcement is primarily aimed at middle income housing and it's important to see the connection between middle income housing and the homelessness that we see in communities because of our population growth people middle income people are bidding up the rents and housing that previously they never would have considered moving to and then that is displacing people from those basement suites from those older rental buildings into homelessness so we're moving upstream with this initiative to make sure that we're delivering those middle income homes and people will see more of this homes that people can actually afford to rent or potentially buy and also though there is a component of this bill that does address issues around supportive housing around shelters and so on it is possible in the targets to have specific targets for specific types of housing so saying to a city look we really need you to step up you've got an encampment we need to have an emergency shelter in your community we need to have supportive housing it's part of the targets for you is part of this legislation as well next question bender sachin ctv hi premier we've been hearing from the condo homeowners association that when it comes to those pre-2010 buildings 99% are owner occupied and it seems like the numbers you've laid out here 300 000 units covered by the ban and about 3 000 will be freed up kind of falls in line with those numbers and what they're saying would make a bigger difference in freeing up rentals would be to ban short-term rentals in areas where there is the greatest need so you talk about taking bold action why not ban short-term rentals now so a couple of pieces you know accepting their numbers 1% of 300 000 is 3 000 units of housing that will be open for rental we are in a housing crisis 3 000 new rental units coming online for british columbians someone searching craigslist looking for that place to rent it's just not acceptable that someone who wants to rent a place and someone who wants to rent to them that they're being prevented from providing housing by a strata rule and so i understand that this is a shift that this is a change we will make sure that people who live in strata buildings maintain their quality of life strata is going to appear at the residential tenancy branch to deal with any tenancy issues and recover those costs from an absentee unit owner will make sure that that's in place but we just can't have a situation where we're leaving housing on the table while people are looking for a place to rent and it's not either or i accept 100% that we need to do more on short-term rentals and in particular supporting municipalities to find that balance there are some municipalities that rely on short-term rentals as part of their tourism strategy but they also need those rental units for tourism workers so when you have a community like tefino like whistler where they're trying to find that balance between these things providing them with the tools so that they can regulate short-term rentals effectively is a critical priority for us and you'll see legislation about that in the sessions to come this is about today about making housing available that's there that's sitting that's waiting to be rented while people are desperate for housing follow-up yeah i'm just wondering there have been calls to actually replace a single-family home with six units instead of three allowing universities to borrow funds so they can actually build housing some people have been calling for a ban on outright ownership of foreign individuals owning homes here in bc and i'm just wondering going forward when you're talking about bold action are those additional measures something that you would be open to and also on another note are you expecting any legal challenges with this i think that british columbians should expect to see one thing from our government which is that we will be completely focused on ensuring that british columbians have a chance to find a place that they can actually afford to rent and to buy and we will be focused on that to deliver and there are a number of mechanisms that we can use these are just two today that we're announcing and there is more to come but i know that's a priority for british columbians i heard from them i heard from people desperate for housing i heard from people who want to move out from mom and dad's place i heard from seniors that are grappling with high rents i've i've heard from so many people who are trying to hire workers and they can't because the workers that they give job offers to can't find housing in the community where the job is so we need to respond to this for our economy we need to respond to this for families for seniors for all british columbians we'll be focused on that and we're not taking any tools off the table when it comes to that these are significant steps today a new relationship between cities and the province in how we're going to deliver housing opening up what we believe to be potentially thousands of units of housing for rent that are currently barred from being rented by strata rules so we're willing to look at anything to make sure we're addressing the housing crisis and uh and it is a big priority for our government next question alec leason v bc today hello premier so there are some instances in the province where the regional district creates housing needs supply that individual municipalities may disagree with um so for example say take crd and callwood or langford um what do you say to those municipalities and how will you work with them for to create housing but also taking a consideration their concerns because i know housing needs supply is a large part of this new legislation but in some instances it's not put together by the individual municipalities and there might not be complete consensus on it so built into the bill is a process where the province must consult with the municipality in setting the target and must consider the information that is provided by the municipality about what their situation is the benefit of this is that we're going to be able to identify what the municipality sees as barriers to delivering the housing that people need and it'll allow us to address those issues so that the targets can be hit it is a structured conversation around a specific target and how we're going to deliver it with the end effect that people will get the housing that they need municipalities should not think uh that we're just going to come in with a target and impose it on them without discussion uh it will be a cooperative approach to set a target that we both agree as best as possible makes sense and a conversation about how we're going to hit that target and when cities fall short uh how we're going to get them to hit that target because we need that housing for people who are looking for it 2018 your government came up with a plan for 114,000 new units over 10 years um in the presentation the tech briefing earlier today it said 36,000 units had been completed or underway do you have specific you know figures for how many being completed how many are underway and how we can expect that plan to proceed moving forward I'll uh I'll get the latest updated numbers to you but yes we are about a third of the way uh through our commitment on those numbers uh there were some bills that have been introduced that are going to be central to us hitting that target around transit oriented development uh where uh TransLink for example um where uh the Ministry of Transportation can purchase land around new transit stations rapid transit stations for building housing that people can actually afford that's close to a SkyTrain line close to a rapid bus station uh all of these are parts of our work to hit that target we've got lots more work to do but we're well on our way and happily as you heard today we have municipal partners who are ready to go and the federal government wants to work with us on this as well. Good morning Premier um so in terms of targets for municipalities how long do municipalities have to take action before they're considered non-compliant? So these are uh as I understand it going to be annual housing targets um and our expectation is to have regulations in place uh early next year um and the goal here is to have that structured conversation throughout that period to make sure that municipalities are on track and if they're starting to lose ground that we're supporting them to address the issues that they face and I know that part of this challenge can be provincial permit times and I know that some of this challenge can be infrastructure that the province has a role to play here too so uh over that time period we'll be working together and if they say look we need increased sewage capacity or we need uh we need to address the fact that that amenities are needed in in this community for us to be able to deliver this housing that conversation can actually take place um so uh while it is an annual target it won't just be at the year end the goal is that we're working together throughout the year to deliver those targets. Follow up? In terms of the targets and some of the legislation that you're introducing today uh you know why didn't you bring in some of these bills earlier when you are housing minister? Uh so I'm uh really excited that these were introduced in the legislature today uh these bills uh didn't show up overnight uh they're the product of extensive work of engagement and consultation with key stakeholders with home builders with municipalities uh and uh and um this work did start when I was housing minister and it's being delivered by uh housing minister Murray Rankin uh government remains committed to the issue of housing and uh British Columbians will see a real emphasis on housing going forward under my leadership. Next question, Katie DeRosa, Vancouver Sun. Uh further to Binder's question about the legal challenge uh some mayors who reacted to the housing platform released in September said they were concerned about the ability to overrule their land use laws so that being said are you concerned about municipalities uh challenging this in court? Um you know I would be uh really disappointed if uh the reaction were anything other than what I imagine everyone's reaction is which is uh to the housing crisis which is we need to build housing urgently for British Columbians. I uh can't imagine a local government that just went through the municipal elections talking to people in their communities that didn't hear about the issue of housing. Communities small and large in every part of our province I was across the province uh and housing regularly topped the list for people of issues they were concerned about are my kids going to be able to afford to live in this community. I need supportive housing for I need housing that's appropriate for my aging parents. I'm uh I'm wanting to leave my parents house and and start my life and I can't afford to do it. I can't find a place to rent. These are the issues that are front of mind for British Columbians. I know municipal leaders would have heard about it. I uh I certainly hope that we spend our time working together on how to hit those targets instead of uh instead of anything else frankly. And we have time for Katie's follow-up today Katie. Last question. Your follow-up please. Yeah there's um a new this morning uh BC government lawyers want the right to unionize. I mean you were a long time government lawyer. What are your thoughts on that? Uh the government of course uh supports the rights of uh of uh people to organize and uh and I'm sure I'll hear more about that soon. Thank you very much everyone. That concludes today's event.