THE NDP said on Tuesday that at a panel discussion with fellow developers in 2020, BC United MLA Renee Merrifield talked about how developers in Kelowna “work well together” and are “careful not to oversupply certain markets.”
Event Host: “Is Kelowna a special case, so to speak? Is there something about the market that’s unique, that equips it or will help it or provide it with an advantage to move through this crisis more effectively than other markets in the province or in the country. Renee, maybe you can start us off on that one?”
Renee Merrifield: “Well, I would say that one of the factors is sitting on your screen. The Urban Development Institute and the developers and suppliers and contractors and consultants that form this association have always been incredibly collaborative. I always say we have one of the best sandboxes in all of Canada. You know, we work well together. We talk to each other. We figure out, you know, who’s who in the zoo. We’re careful not to oversupply certain markets. You know, we share ideas and we listen to one another. And that is unique. You know, right now, Troika is existing in 13 different municipalities and I can say we don’t have that same collaboration in any of the other municipalities that we work in. So this definitely is part of our secret sauce and part of our advantage. Absolutely.”
Merrifield is the owner and co-CEO of Troika Developments.
A clip of Merrifield’s comments is available here. The full video is available at 22:00 here.
The NDP pointed out that on Tuesday morning, Merrifield raised a point of privilege claiming that she did not make comments about restricting housing supply.
MLA Ravi Parmar said: “It’s extremely concerning to hear a BCU MLA talk about building less housing during a housing shortage. We need more supply of all kinds of housing, not less. But Kevin Falcon has consistently opposed David Eby’s actions to increase housing supply. He’s still looking out for the speculators and companies profiting off high housing prices – not the British Columbians trying to afford a place to live.”
