When you have a government that only sees spending as the solution to every problem, you get what we have.
Yesterday on CFAX Councillor Alto was saying that perhaps Victoria should look at charging a fee or a tax for an out-of-town real-estate buyer. She alluded to the issue of empty condos, as elusive as they are, but that supposed issue has given rise to the idea that if we tax foreigners, at least we'll get some more spending money for affordable housing.
Never mind the fact that the $20k the foreigner will spend will just work to increase the overall cost of housing in the region and force locals to eventually pay more for housing. Alto was also against the idea of building another View Towers because she doesn't like big buildings and she doesn't like forcing individuals who can't afford market housing to all live together in a social housing projects. She prefers social/affordable housing to be mixed in with market housing.