B.C. ‘fell so short’ in Doukhobor pay, communication after apology: ombudsperson

The town of Jasper, Alta., is asking the provincial government for budgetary financial support for the next few years to avoid drastically cutting services or implementing significant tax hikes while the community rebuilds.

The request comes as Jasper, which saw an estimated $283 million worth of property value destroyed by a devastating wildfire in July, begins to grapple with how it will manage severely reduced property tax revenue in the years to come.

“We have not hit the bottom yet,” Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said during Tuesday’s town council meeting. “Our tax base is going to get even lower before it starts to recover.”

Town administration estimates the wildfire wiped out well over $2 million in rolling annual property tax revenue for the municipality, not including additional revenue the town would have continued to receive in future years in utility fees charged to the 358 homes and businesses that are no longer standing.

Council also approved Tuesday a property tax relief proposal for residents affected by the July wildfire.

Under the tax relief proposal, which is subject to the provincial government stepping up with financial assistance, all property owners would be given a one-month tax break for the time when a mandatory evacuation order was in place.

Property owners whose homes or businesses were destroyed would have their remaining or outstanding 2024 bill nullified, or refunded if the full year’s tax bill was already paid.

Ireland noted that four members of council, including himself, would be covered under this relief for having lost their homes.

The relief includes municipal property taxes, as well as the provincial education requisition, which would need to be refunded by the Alberta government.

The proposal means Jasper would forgo more than $1.9 million in municipal property tax revenue this year, or close to 10 per cent of its 2024 budget.

Jasper’s chief administrative officer Bill Given told council the town estimates it will miss out on an additional $1.7 million in 2024 from reduced paid parking, public transit, and utility fee revenue.

Heather Jenkins, the press secretary for Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, said the ministry will consider the town’s request once received.

Given said Tuesday the town’s request is not unprecedented, as the province has previously provided Slave Lake, Alta., and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alta., with similar financial support after wildfires struck both communities in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

Without support from the province, Jasper could be faced with raising taxes on the properties that remain to make up for the lost revenue or cut services until the town’s tax base recovers when homes and businesses are rebuilt.

An administrative report presented to council says the first option would “cause significant strain” on residents, while cutting services “would likely both prolong the community’s recovery and damage the destination’s reputation with visitors.”

Ireland said Jasper would face “insurmountable challenges” if it doesn’t receive financial support from the province.

“We are not seeking a grant or a subsidy from the province,” Ireland argued. “I see this as an investment by the province in our tourism economy.”

“We contribute disproportionately to provincial (gross domestic product) recognized through tourism, so yes… the province can see this as an investment in its own future by supporting our tourism-based community.”

Tuesday also marked the first day of school for Jasper’s elementary, junior high, and high school students. Classes were delayed to start the year as both schools in the community suffered significant smoke damage.

The community’s transit service also resumed Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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TORONTO – Experts say Ottawa’s changes to mortgage rules could help spur demand among potential homebuyers, but supply challenges are likely to persist in Canada’s real estate sector despite lofty goals to build new housing.

The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment. The price cap for insured mortgages is set to move to $1.5 million from $1 million, marking the first boost since 2012.

The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.

Speaking at a luncheon panel in Toronto on Tuesday, Mortgage Professionals Canada president and CEO Lauren van den Berg praised those changes as “fantastic news” designed to address significant pent-up demand in the market.

“We’re seeing nowhere near enough supply and we’re seeing people go from excitement about the possibility of that dream of homeownership to desperation,” said van den Berg.

“I don’t think we can hide our heads in the sand when it comes to demand and only focus on supply. I think recognizing the situation we’re in is step one.”

The event, billed as a discussion on Canada’s housing affordability crisis, also heard from Desjardins chief economist and strategist Jimmy Jean. He was more downbeat on the changes, calling the announcement a “debt finance solution to affordability.”

“It gives the impression that things are affordable, but people just end up paying more interest over their lifetime,” Jean said.

The federal government touted the measures it announced Monday as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” which came after a year of criticism over high housing costs.

In a note published on Tuesday, CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal said the government’s actions would likely accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process he noted is already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.

“To prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing, we need to match the additional demand with supply,” Tal said.

“The core issue is the lack of supply available to respond to rapidly increasing population … The additions to demand from these mortgage changes will make it even more imperative to deliver on policies aimed at inducing more homebuilding.”

But Jean said it’s important to be practical about Canada’s strategy to build new homes in the coming years.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecasts Canada will require an additional 3.5 million housing units by 2030, on top of the 2.3 million already projected to be built, to restore affordability to levels seen in 2004.

Jean said achieving those targets would mean pulling much of Canada’s labour and capital resources into one sector, leading to shortages elsewhere in the economy.

“We’ve been focusing on supply, supply, supply, but we need to be realistic,” he said.

“We’ve seen this for the last two, three years and how slow things are moving. I think the solution has to be on the demand side and what’s being done to really curb that demand in order to balance out the market.”

Van den Berg said she was hopeful the federal government’s moves would generate momentum on the housing file, as she described a “sense of agitation” among homebuyers that her association hears from.

She said the Bank of Canada’s three consecutive cuts to its key lending rate, along with economists’ predictions of more to follow in the coming months, have sparked “cautious optimism” among those waiting on the sidelines.

“It’s something that our members have asked for because it’s what they’re hearing from their clients on the ground,” she said of the mortgage rule amendments.

“They’ve asked us for this because it’s a critical piece of the affordability puzzle, a critical piece of the accessibility puzzle when it comes to this housing crisis.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

HALIFAX – A prisoner rights group says the Nova Scotia government must pass a law requiring independent monitoring of the province’s jails.

In a report released today, the East Coast Prison Justice Society says provincial inmates complain of issues such as prolonged lockdowns and poor access to health care.

The group’s annual report is a compilation of comments gathered from nearly 800 phone calls from Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2023, with inmates in the jail system.

Inmates also complained of little access to cultural and spiritual support programs, particularly for African and Indigenous Nova Scotians.

The group issued 42 recommendations, including that the province launch an independent review to identify necessary changes to the jail system, including on issues such as health care.

Barbara Adams, the province’s justice minister, told reporters this morning the province is open to an independent review but offered no further details.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.