The politics of unaffordable housing are getting a bit personal for Burnaby's Jane Shin.
The MLA for the Burnaby-Lougheed rose in the legislature recently and said she couldn't afford a house in her own riding.
"I've given up on Burnaby, as much as I'm a resident of Burnaby. I can't find a house that I can occupy for anything less than $800,000," she told the legislature during the recent budget debate. "I might be the member for Burnaby-Lougheed, but I might need to get a place out in Mission or Maple Ridge or Chilliwack."
Shin discussed her statement with the NOW and explained that she was trying to make a political point, but the Liberals criticized her for the comments as she has three properties listed on her financial disclosure statement and makes six figures as an MLA.
"The comment was to illustrate the fact that when we are talking about the growing unaffordability issue in Burnaby-Lougheed, and in Burnaby and Metro Vancouver throughout, we are talking about young people like myself, young families," Shin said.
Shin, 34, acknowledged she makes a six-figure salary – MLAs make a minimum of $102,000 per year – but she's also carrying student debt.
Shin has a mortgage on a condo in the Burnaby-Edmonds riding, but she moved to Burnaby-Lougheed to be closer to her constituency, and now lives in a basement rental suite.
"For a lot of us, including myself, to be able to afford a house with a yard, it's a pipedream. Most of us will be lucky to afford a new two-bedroom condo, which is already in the $400,000 to $500,000 range," Shin said. "I can't say I'm looking with any plans to buy, because I can't afford it, period."
As for Shin's other properties, she pointed out that she doesn't own her Burnaby condo outright – she's still paying off the mortgage. Besides the Burnaby condo, her 2013 financial disclosure statement listed a revenue property in New Westminster, which Shin said she put a down payment on, thinking her parents would live there. She also recently sold a Mission property.
With files from Lindsay Kines, the Times Colonist
