Federal budget omits several Kamloops and area initiatives

The Kamloops Chamber, and the Land Trust Foundation were looking to the Federal Government to remove land transfer taxes on land that gifted to community land trusts for the creation of needed housing.

“It is disappointing to see this,” Colin O’Leary, the Board Chair of the Kamloops Community Land Trust, said, noting they aren’t done advocating for the change.

“We have been here before and a good idea doesn’t die with a single budget. And so this is still a real problem that is facing all Canadians. We can see that housing and housing supply is real priority in the budget.”

Sun Peaks has been advocating for a removal from the foreign buyers ban, something other resorts like Big White and Whistler have received. This latest budget however extended the foreign owners ban until 2029, but, a small victory perhaps, was that it was only for existing properties while new residential properties were exempted.

“A lot of Canadians are staying home and in our country now,” Sun Peaks Mayor Jason White said. “So maybe we can get some real estate sold to local Canadian people and go that direction. But we are really hoping today is positive news and we don’t have to worry about that. But if now we will adjust and we will keep soldiering on.”

Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola MP Frank Caputo also had a wish list, which includes the Red Bridge replacement project, general infrastructure upgrades in Kamloops, a new fire station in Barriere, and flood protection dollars for Merritt.

The budget did include $51 billion over 10 years for infrastructure but with no local projects identified. The other items listed by Caputo were not expressly noted in the 500-plus page document.

by Michael Reeve

Federal budget omits several Kamloops and area initiatives

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