This post is all about contacting your representatives in government – getting clarification on where they stand regarding housing economics, and letting them know where you stand as a voter. Many readers on this site have mentioned the importance of writing to your MP, so I figure it’s high time we do a story thread where we can share ideas and contact information.
First off a list of Vancouver area members of Parliament including email links and mailing addresses. (thanks Drachen for the link)
Now a few questions / opinions I have for my MP. I should clarify these are just points for discussion and not intended to be copy and pasted into an email. Writing a letter in your own words will likely be more effective than a form letter.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation
I believe that the CMHC is flooding too much cheap credit into the housing market temporarily driving up prices. Where do you stand on the CMHC and how effective do you feel they are addressing their mandate of making housing affordable to Canadians? Is ‘affordability’ measured best as temporarily low monthly payments or as total debt load?
OSFI Conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) has a draft advisory (pdf) that is set to be put into effect at the end of this year. There has been some opposition to implementing these changes at this time. Where do you stand on the OSFI advisory, specifically on taxpayer funded securitization of mortgage debt?
* You may wish to contact the Honorable James M. Flaherty on this topic
Bailouts for speculators and negative equity homeowners
As housing prices fell in the US, there were a number of government bailouts and stimulus measures that tried to prop up the market. These measures have so far failed to keep house prices from falling more than %50 in cities like Las Vegas and Miami. Where do you stand on bailouts or other measures that attempt to prop up housing markets? If foreclosure rates rise further in Vancouver, what sort of action would you take if any? Would you support or oppose bailouts?
So what do you think? What do you want your MP to know and what issues do you want them to clarify their stand on? Are there other Government entities that you think would be worth contacting? Post your thoughts, letter excerpts and ideas in the comment section below.
