Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

The committee met to consider a Conservative motion for an urgent summer study into the Canada-British Columbia partnership on condo conversion, which the Conservatives characterized as a bailout for developers. The motion proposed six meetings and a list of witnesses, including the federal housing minister, the B.C. housing minister, the mayor of Vancouver, and several developers and industry groups. It also called for the federal and B.C. governments to provide the committee with any related agreements.

Conservative members argued that the program, announced just before the House rose, raised ethical questions about lobbying and conflicts of interest, and that using taxpayer money to purchase unsold condos prevented a market correction that could lower prices for first-time homebuyers. The NDP member also criticized the program as a bailout for developers, arguing that the funds should instead go to non-profit and co-op housing, and noted that the funding allocation under Bill C-26 appeared inequitable across provinces.

Liberal members defended the program as a provincial initiative supported by $150 million in federal funding to create 2,200 affordable rent-to-own homes, and argued that the committee lacked sufficient details to study it. The Bloc Québécois member suggested the committee write to the lobbying commissioner but questioned the motion’s demand that the B.C. government be ordered to provide documents. A Liberal member moved a motion to adjourn debate, and later put a notice of motion to set the committee’s future agenda, including studies on the Lobbying Act, algorithmic pricing, and the Privacy Act. The committee did not vote on the Conservative motion or the adjournment motion before the transcript ended.