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Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby backpedalled on their proposed Vancouver condo bailout after facing intense backlash from British Columbians who were beginning to see the market cool on its own.

For decades, Vancouver has been one of the most unaffordable cities in North America. Many of the condos in question are small, luxury spaces that are impractical and overpriced for most buyers. Developers are on track to sell at a huge loss. The Carney-Eby plan would appear to cushion the blow. 

But the substantial pushback after the initial announcement has them singing a different tune. 

“The federal government was enthusiastic about us announcing this before all the details were out, but in the absence of the details, the plot has been lost a little bit here,” said Eby. “If you are a condo developer that took a bet on the high end of the market and you’re facing significant potential loss of profits, what we are proposing will not assist you.” 

“No developer asked for this from me directly,” said Carney. “And I want to say up front: I don’t think we’ve done — myself included — a particularly good job of rolling this out and explaining exactly what it is.” 

On Friday’s Rebel Roundup livestream, Drea Humphrey and Tamara Lich reacted to the Premier and Prime Minister’s updated narrative. 

“I think they weren’t expecting the amount of backlash that they’re receiving, and the amount of questions,” said Tamara. “Even the mainstream media has been questioning a lot of this and talking about it.” 

“I still don’t trust what the heck they’re doing here… But it is a win. I think this really comes down to, again, the people pushing back,” said Drea. 

Drea also pointed out several plot holes in the two statements. 

“You have Premier David Eby blaming the Liberals… and then you have Mark Carney saying this was a B.C. initiative… So right there we see a huge discrepancy,” she said. “And the other big thing is, all of a sudden, now it’s a rent-to-own… You were getting into the luxury condo business on the taxpayer’s dime, and now all of a sudden it’s rent-to-own.” 

She went on: “It’s just embarrassing… But I will call it a win for the people because, whatever their plan is, is not going as easily and smoothly as I believe it would have if the people were not totally on it.”