The provincial government's decision not to restrict "foreign ownership" in B.C. is another broken promise. As a First Nation person, my ancestors have had 150 years of government broken promises. The economy has trumped humanity, environment and now security.
This issue is not just in Vancouver and Victoria but this has mushroomed throughout the province and the country.
Housing inflation has caused a growing problem for every level of government and Canada saw what happened in the housing sector in the U.S., Different scenario but same outcome. This problem now impacts balancing interest rates, the Canadian dollar, small businesses, homelessness and affordable living for working families throughout the province.
Farms are being lost to foreign interests and some are left vacant and in Richmond and the Fraser Valley, this land is being used to build mansions as big as 25,000 square feet (Richmond imposed a restriction). Site C has 30 per cent Chinese interest behind it. Every loophole is being used by foreign money while First Nations and fourth generation born Canadians are now experiencing what my ancestors did when colonization took place over 200 years ago. When the economy trumps the basic needs of people/environment, this is what happens. Containment will work in the short run but what will happen far in the future? The plights of First Nations is the crystal ball to all Canadians losing the land and resources. The future's biggest challenge is food security.
Canada is looked to for our underdeveloped land to provide a way to supply the basic necessity to live, land, food and water. Shipping overseas is the biggest threat to our oceans, not just oil but our insatiable appetite for stuff and for other nations, the ability to feed their people.
It is said history repeats itself and we are standing witness to it. This is why Indigenous people still fight today - what is important to us, is what the land provides us, not what we can take from it!
Jo-Anne Berezanski
North Saanich
