Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNP CommentJohn Ivison: Carney shifts to damage control on his condo developer bailoutOn Thursday he signalled he might be looking to drop it, but doesn't want to admit it publiclyLast updated 26 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Canada on June 25, 2026. Carney is holding a wide-ranging news conference to mark last week's end to the parliamentary sitting. Photo by DAVE CHAN /AFP via Getty ImagesNobody could accuse Mark Carney of lacking intellectual suppleness. A week after enthusiastically endorsing the federal government’s involvement in moves to buy and convert up to 2,500 Vancouver condos that developers can’t unload, on Thursday the prime minister downplayed Ottawa’s role in the scheme.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAt a press conference to mark the end of the parliamentary session, Carney said the whole idea was cooked up by the province of British Columbia and the federal government’s funding of the purchase will be limited to around 10 per cent of the total.It was the kind of manoeuvre known in the public service as a “flexible application” of the project — in short, dropping it but not wanting to admit to doing so in public.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againLast week, standing alongside B.C. Premier Dave Eby, Carney said developers did not want to sell at a loss but couldn’t afford to hold the empty units indefinitely. He said the glut of condos on the market was acting as a disincentive to new construction that was unsettling lenders and freezing the housing market.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre leapt on what he called the “Carney condo bailout” as a transfer of wealth from “elites and insiders” to embattled taxpayers.The prime minister has clearly been warned by his advisers about the potential for this issue to stick to the Liberal government, which likely explains why Carney distanced himself from the $1.4-billion project on Thursday.He was asked if developers who attended a Liberal fundraiser had lobbied for the bailout.The prime minister said they had not. He admitted that he had not done a particularly good job at rolling out the policy and downplayed his earlier comments about developers being stuck with inventory they couldn’t sell.“We start, as we always do, with Canadians. We don’t start with developers,” he said.The province of British Columbia initiated the idea to convert some of the vacant condos into affordable housing, he said. “There are so many cases, young families, of people who don’t have money for a down payment, but who can build that equity over time through rent-to-buy. There’s an opportunity there.”Carney said the federal government would provide about 10 per cent of the financing — $145 million — to buy the distressed condos.“But we don’t care about the developers, we are about the person or the family that can potentially move into the home,” he said.Given a significant portion of the available condos are said to be around 500 square feet, any family considering one of these shoeboxes would have to be equally as distressed as the condo market (the average family home in Canada is around 2,000 square feet).But the caveats offered by the prime minister — that this is B.C.’s initiative and federal exposure is limited — are not mitigating circumstances.The correct allotment of federal funding should be zero per cent, otherwise the government is guilty of the moral hazard of privatizing gains and socializing losses.Carney knows this, and no amount of rationalizing about “the best use of the dollar” will make that right.If the federal government is really concerned about unfreezing the Vancouver property market, it could overturn the foreign buyer ban it introduced in 2023 to restrict non-citizens and non-permanent residents from buying residential properties in major urban areas, including Metro Vancouver.Likewise, B.C. could repeal its 20 per cent foreign buyers’ tax.Buying up million-dollar condos would seem to be the worst possible way of stimulating more supply.The impression that was left is that there are no transactions on the table right now — and there probably won’t be any if the feds can run fast enough in the opposite direction from this ill-considered policy without getting caught.The real question is why the prime minister didn’t spot the potential for this policy to generate more accusations of crony capitalism and immediately bury it in English Bay.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.