A BC lobby group, Generation Squeeze, is refusing to release the complete recording of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remarks during a private town hall meeting with home equity tax advocates. Blacklock's Reporter says media and the public were barred from attending the hour-long session held on June 25.In an excerpt of the recording, Trudeau remarked, “There are countries where rates of home ownership levels are much lower, where people don’t put all their retirement eggs into the home equity basket. Like, the idea you would buy a home, you would pay off the mortgage, and then you would watch the value of it skyrocket and that would be your pension.”Generation Squeeze, which hosted the meeting, released a 37-minute edited version of Trudeau's comments but did not respond to requests for the full recording or transcript. “It’s a great group of people where we agree on all sorts of things and look forward to digging into the places where we can all learn from each other,” said Trudeau.The invitation-only event was hosted by Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze and a former CMHC consultant. It was described by the group as “a private town hall about generational fairness.”Kershaw, in a confidential 2022 email released by the University of British Columbia through Freedom Of Information, advocated for homeowners to “demonstrate allegiance” by paying more tax. “It is a wealth tax,” wrote Kershaw. “We think it’s time to ask the 10% owning Canada’s highest value real estate to tolerate a small price on housing inequity in order to demonstrate allegiance to the Canadian dream that a good home should be in reach for what hard work can earn whether in rental or co-op housing or as owners.”CMHC provided $450,000 to fund and promote a tax report by Kershaw and other UBC researchers. Their 2022 report, Wealth And The Problems Of Housing Inequity Across Generations, proposed a $5.8 billion annual tax on home equity and criticized the “windfalls gained by many homeowners while they sleep and watch TV.”The release of Kershaw’s report prompted a flood of critical emails from property owners. “Go f—k yourself,” wrote one correspondent. “You are a goof,” said another. “You must be joking, buddy,” emailed a third. “How about increasing supply? How basic is that?”Many homeowners detailed their personal sacrifices in paying off their homes, describing them as their only equity. “Can you imagine four children sleeping on one single bed?” wrote one. “My parents worked hard. They gave us every opportunity that we have now. So you want to tax them?”“How is that fair or even ethical?” questioned another homeowner. “I have worked and saved for 45 years to pay off my mortgage. I am retired with a modest pension. Inflation is biting into my pension.”The critical emails, spanning 130 pages of redacted records, labeled the home equity tax as “terrible,” “radical,” “sad,” “arrogant,” a “stupid idea,” and “one of the dumbest ideas I have ever read.” One homeowner wrote, “I will try not to be insulting but it is difficult.”Kershaw described the backlash as “vitriolic,” acknowledging, “It’s a jungle out there.” He maintained that an equity tax would reduce “inequality.”“Folks will fight this tooth and nail,” warned one homeowner. “Any government that tries to implement this is committing public suicide. Wrong idea at the wrong time in the wrong country. Maybe try Denmark.”
A BC lobby group, Generation Squeeze, is refusing to release the complete recording of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remarks during a private town hall meeting with home equity tax advocates. Blacklock's Reporter says media and the public were barred from attending the hour-long session held on June 25.In an excerpt of the recording, Trudeau remarked, “There are countries where rates of home ownership levels are much lower, where people don’t put all their retirement eggs into the home equity basket. Like, the idea you would buy a home, you would pay off the mortgage, and then you would watch the value of it skyrocket and that would be your pension.”Generation Squeeze, which hosted the meeting, released a 37-minute edited version of Trudeau's comments but did not respond to requests for the full recording or transcript. “It’s a great group of people where we agree on all sorts of things and look forward to digging into the places where we can all learn from each other,” said Trudeau.The invitation-only event was hosted by Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze and a former CMHC consultant. It was described by the group as “a private town hall about generational fairness.”Kershaw, in a confidential 2022 email released by the University of British Columbia through Freedom Of Information, advocated for homeowners to “demonstrate allegiance” by paying more tax. “It is a wealth tax,” wrote Kershaw. “We think it’s time to ask the 10% owning Canada’s highest value real estate to tolerate a small price on housing inequity in order to demonstrate allegiance to the Canadian dream that a good home should be in reach for what hard work can earn whether in rental or co-op housing or as owners.”CMHC provided $450,000 to fund and promote a tax report by Kershaw and other UBC researchers. Their 2022 report, Wealth And The Problems Of Housing Inequity Across Generations, proposed a $5.8 billion annual tax on home equity and criticized the “windfalls gained by many homeowners while they sleep and watch TV.”The release of Kershaw’s report prompted a flood of critical emails from property owners. “Go f—k yourself,” wrote one correspondent. “You are a goof,” said another. “You must be joking, buddy,” emailed a third. “How about increasing supply? How basic is that?”Many homeowners detailed their personal sacrifices in paying off their homes, describing them as their only equity. “Can you imagine four children sleeping on one single bed?” wrote one. “My parents worked hard. They gave us every opportunity that we have now. So you want to tax them?”“How is that fair or even ethical?” questioned another homeowner. “I have worked and saved for 45 years to pay off my mortgage. I am retired with a modest pension. Inflation is biting into my pension.”The critical emails, spanning 130 pages of redacted records, labeled the home equity tax as “terrible,” “radical,” “sad,” “arrogant,” a “stupid idea,” and “one of the dumbest ideas I have ever read.” One homeowner wrote, “I will try not to be insulting but it is difficult.”Kershaw described the backlash as “vitriolic,” acknowledging, “It’s a jungle out there.” He maintained that an equity tax would reduce “inequality.”“Folks will fight this tooth and nail,” warned one homeowner. “Any government that tries to implement this is committing public suicide. Wrong idea at the wrong time in the wrong country. Maybe try Denmark.”
