Although last month the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) delegates endorsed an Oak Bay motion urging the provincial government to give communities the right to choose whether to impose a speculation tax, Finance Minister Carole James said Tuesday she is moving ahead with the tax despite mayors calling for changes.

Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen said he was hoping for a different outcome.

B次元官网网址淚 certainly had hoped that the government would have at the very least sat down with the Union of B.C. Municipalities and looked at that recommendation, which was near unanimous at the [UBCM] convention recommending that a vacancy tax be administered locally and decided locally,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hey obviously decided that itB次元官网网址檚 better to do it on a provincial level.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淐ertainly the goal of the [provincial] government is more housing availability and affordability, but my thought still remains that it wouldB次元官网网址檝e been as good, if not better, to have that have down at the local level,B次元官网网址� he continued.

B次元官网网址淚t seems like itB次元官网网址檚 going to be a provincial policy and weB次元官网网址檒l have to make the best of it,B次元官网网址� he added.

James said Tuesday that although sheB次元官网网址檚 had discussions with a number of B.C. mayors, when faced with a major provincial crisis itB次元官网网址檚 the responsibility of the provincial government to act, B次元官网网址渘ot to let municipalities pick and choose whether they want to address affordable housing.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎ffordable housing is a crisis and itB次元官网网址檚 our responsibility as a government to act on that,B次元官网网址� she said.

There are concerns about what the tax would mean to the community of Oak Bay and others that have many residents maintaining one home here and another away, only spending a portion of the year in the community.

Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and leader of the B.C. Green Party, said Tuesday he is concerned that the tax may land on property owners who are not speculators.

The tax was scaled back in March to exempt rural recreation properties. The Gulf Islands, the Juan de Fuca region in Premier John HorganB次元官网网址檚 constituency, Parksville and Qualicum Beach are being exempted. The municipalities of Nanaimo, Lantzville, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission would still be included, as are the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna, when the tax takes effect in 2019.

- With files from Keri Coles & Tom Fletcher