Saturday May 4, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated May 5, 2024]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
A surprise to pretty much no one, Ravi Kahlon is again running for MLA. His riding is Delta North in the BC lower mainland area.
As the lead for a massive revision of housing policy over the past year in the role of Housing Minister, Kahlon has actually set new frameworks that are being adopted federally (for example, BC Builds was the model for the recently rolled-out Canada Builds).
He joked on Friday at an outdoor press conference in Victoria that here was yet another program (in this case the forgivable loan program for homeowners to build secondary suites) that would be picked up in other parts of Canada.
Made for the job:
Kahlon was given full rein of the new Housing Ministry when Premier David Eby appointed his own first cabinet in December 2022. Kahlon has been thinking about and acting upon the issues of housing pretty much non-stop ever since.
Other than the occasional shift into a tense mood sometimes in the Legislative Assembly, Kahlon maintains an affable easy-going manner that puts people at ease.
A big win with short-term rentals:
Of all the new housing legislation introduced in 2023 and 2024, probably the most significant impact Kahlon’s work has had is in wrestling the short-term rental problem to the ground. He has often said it’s a way to almost instantly restore more housing availability to the market.
Units that have been purchased by investors for exclusive use as short-term rentals (including houses, townhomes and condos) are now back onto the market either through sale or long-term rental.
Supports for seniors:
Kahlon was a bit slow in producing results for seniors who are supported on the Shelter Aid for Elderly Relters (SAFER) program as he awaited recommendations from a review done by BC Housing in 2022. But just last month came through with a one-time ‘bonus’, and adjustments to the rent ceiling and income calculations that will ease things for low-income seniors going forward.
Low-income seniors who benefit by these changes will be a good voter base for the BC NDP to capture in this fall’s election.
BC NDP posted in social media this afternoon:
“Congrats to Ravi Kahlon, the BC NDP candidate for Delta North in this fall’s election. A two-time Olympian for Team Canada in field hockey and inductee in the Delta Sports Hall of Fame, Kahlon was elected in 2017 and 2020. He serves as the Minister of Housing and Government House Lead.”
News release also leans on health-care:
In addition to the significant job that Kahlon has done in housing, the BC NDP news release to media this afternoon also leaned into the importance of health-care. Kahlon shifted into riding-focus:
“People in Delta North have urgent needs in housing, health-care, education and affordable childcare,” said Kahlon in the news release. “Our growing community’s future hinges on our ability to build strong, safe, and inclusive neighbourhoods. The cost of Conservative or BCU leadership is too high a price for our progress. I am committed to tirelessly advocating for policies that ensure everyone has the opportunity top thrive right here in Delta North.”
Election campaign starts soon:
The BC Provincial Election is scheduled for October 19, 2024. The last day of the Legislative session is May 16. After that, MLAs and other candidates will be gearing up into full campaign mode.
In 2017 Kahlon won the Delta North seat 48.83% of the vote, shifting that up to 56.78% in 2020. In both elections he outstripped the Liberal and Green candidates, though in 2020 Liberal and Green votes combined surpassed what Kahlon won for the BC NDP.
In social media today, Kahlon said: “It’s been an honour to represent the good people of North Delta. Looking forward to running again in the upcoming election.”
Profile for Delta North:
In the 2024 election in Delta North the BC United are running Amrit Pal Singh Dhot as their candidate; he moved to Canada in 2008.
In this 2024 election if the Conservatives of BC also run a candidate, the battle is on for the NDP to push Kahlon well past the finish line again.
So far the BC Greens don’t have a candidate in Delta North.
Changing the housing landscape in BC:
Opposition to Kahlon’s housing policies by the Conservatives of BC and BC United will be the biggest challenge for the hard-working Kahlon who has (with the support of his government team) almost single-handedly changed the face of BC communities for decades to come.
The opposition parties have struggled to adapt to the realities of responding vigorously to the housing shortage crisis that everyone complains about. The BC NDP have clearly used the power of their majority (a gift from former Premier John Horgan’s time when he pulled a snap election in 2020) to usher through pretty much all the legislation that they have brought forward.
Kahlon took the bull by the horns on dealing with the housing crisis. And while the BC NDP campaign ground game is remarkably robust, he will clearly be hit with a lot of campaign heat from detractors.
Eby has his back:
Most certainly Premier Eby will have Kahlon’s back.
Kahlon has also been Government House leader and the guiding force of much of what the cabinet discusses and addresses in debate. He patiently deals with the long-winded statements and debates but yes, the NDP has been strident in pushing through a series of housing legislation and other significant shifts that will be a challenge in the summer-fall campaign.
It’s unclear how much the decriminalization reversal by Eby last week will settle down and fall behind the NDP in the weeks and months ahead. The family doctor shortage is also a very real continuing challenge for many people in BC, and Kahlon might have to bear some of the heat for that as well as he moves forward in his campaign.
But if the staunch NDP backbone that Kahlon demonstrated at the BC NDP convention last November is any indication, he will rally the campaign troops for himself and the party with a type of uplift that seems unique to his character and personality.
Elections BC:
The Elections BC pre-campaign period officially begins July 23. Candidates can be nominated up to 1 pm on September 28, 2024. Advance voting will be available across BC on October 10, 11, 12 and 13, as well as October 15 and 16, 2024.
Thanksgiving Day is Monday October 14.
===== RELATED:
- Eby & Kahlon: Build a secondary suite & get up to $40,000 forgivable loan (May 2, 2024)
- Another step for BC Builds: builders portal (April 29, 2024)
- Mass timber buildings can now be 18 storeys tall (April 10, 2024)
- New rental supports for BC seniors (April 9, 2024)
- Kahlon promises 20 new bills in robust spring session (February 20, 2024)
- Tough election ahead for BC NDP says Kahlon, but with positive wind in their sails (November 20, 2023)
- Saanich is up to the task of building more homes quickly, says Mayor (November 13, 2023)
- BC housing initiatives announced twice this week (September 29, 2023)
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Island Social Trends Editor Mary P Brooke has been covering west shore regional news since 2008. She specializes in socioeconomic and political news analysis.
After covering the daily news of the COVID pandemic in 2020-2022 Ms Brooke reports alongside the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
In 2022 Ms Brooke ran for school trustee in the Belmont (west shore) Zone of School District 62 as a way to highlight the needs of parents and families in public education.
In 2023, Mary P Brooke was nominated for a Jack Webster Foundation journalism award for contributing to her community through professional journalism.
Mary P Brooke has a Certificate in Public Relations and runs her own business. She lives in Langford where she produces Island Social Trends as a digital online news portal at IslandSocialTrends.ca . The biweekly print edition will be relaunched this summer.
In 2024 Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. has also launched the Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society (UFRIS) which helps guide urban communities in emergency planning for food supply.