New coalition goes after high cost of taxes on new homes
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New board game called Taxopoly sent to politicians to get their attention
If letters to all levels of government are not working, then why not try a board game, which is something a group of 18 GTA housing developers have done in order, they say, “to ignite conversations about some major challenges in housing affordability.”
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The group, called CANT, which stands for Coalition Against New Home Taxes, launched in late July and in August letters went out to municipal, provincial and federal politicians.
Cost of new homes, they contend, are “higher than they should be because 30 per cent of their cost is the result of taxes. These taxes significantly inflate home prices, making it harder for Canadians to achieve homeownership.”
Phase Two of the group’s campaign began earlier this month when it launched Taxopoly, which CANT describes as a physical game that resembles Monopoly that has been sent to “key politicians to get their attention.”
Taxopoly, it says, is “a powerful, interactive way to show how tough it is for Canadians to achieve the dream of homeownership. This game (which can be played, but truly can’t be won) illustrates the current market barriers through a format that resonates with everyone – from industry experts to the general public.
Playing on the original Monopoly, Taxopoly has creative features like ‘Not a Chance Cards and ‘Go to Your Parents House’ (instead of Go to Jail).”
Matt Young, founder of Republic Developments and lead spokesperson for CANT, said discussions to organize began earlier this year as a result of conversations he had with a “few other builder friends. We were all kind of questioning what was happening in the market, and the challenges that buyers were facing, and also the challenges we were facing in terms of trying to deliver the product that they want at a price point that they can afford. It was just an impossibility.”
The goal of the organization, he says, is to shift the conversation around why things are unaffordable when it comes to home building, and “highlight the fact that taxes are one of the biggest chunks of the cost for builders to deliver housing.
“Phase one of the campaign was making sure people understood what the numbers were, and making sure they understood why housing costs, what it costs.”
He describes Phase Two of the campaign as an attempt to inform the public, but in a “clever, funny and sad sort of way that would capture some attention as well help people understand the problem.”
Taxopoly he adds, is a game that is not only “completely unwinnable, where after three or four turns you lose all of your money and are out of the game, which is what it feels like for young people today.”
Aside from the sending of the physical game to politicians, the new campaign will also involve a hoarding initiative at Bathurst St. and Richmond St. containing visuals of one side of the game board, and the creation of digital assets that will be used in any social media messaging that takes place.
Asked why he launched CANT when there are other lobbying efforts in place to reduce the amount of tax paid on new home construction from the likes of developer organizations such as BILD and RESCON, Young says that “ultimately the message needs to come from a lot of different places for it to resonate. We have seen that until people get really loud, it does not feel like government moves overly quickly on anything.”
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