In a post on X, B.C.鈥檚 Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Ravi Kahlon, announced on Jan. 30 that he has appointed an independent housing advisor to Oak Bay to "make recommendations to support our shared goal of building homes for people." 

This comes after the district failed to meet its provincially mandated housing targets last year. Oak Bay erected only 16 units last year, though it was tasked with building 56. In comparison, Saanich built about 77 per cent of its mandated 440 units, while Victoria exceeded the 659 units it was ordered to construct.

鈥淭hey've significantly missed their target, and the message that we're getting back from mayor and council is that they're doing great, things are fine 鈥� but they're not,鈥� Kahlon told Black Press. "The data is not proving that out."

The advisor will undertake a review of council decision-making, staff processes and housing-related priorities from Jan. 30 to Mar. 28, according to a letter the minister sent Oak Bay on Jan. 30. The ministry has confirmed that Victoria-based James Ridge Consulting will conduct the review.

鈥淚'm not entirely sure what is going on at Oak Bay, but that's why it's important to have somebody independent come in to look at it, someone who has planning experience to be able to ... talk to planning staff and get a sense of this issue,鈥� said Kahlon. 鈥淚s the issue something that is unique to Oak Bay? Is it because political decision makers can't make decisions on housing? I don't know. The independent person will be able to identify that.鈥� 

Murdoch told Black Press he wasn鈥檛 surprised by this news, citing a Dec. 17 letter Kahlon sent Oak Bay regarding its housing target progress report and the potential appointment of a housing advisor.

鈥淭he tone of both the original letter in December and the media interviews done by the minister after that made it pretty clear that they had decided to appoint an advisor and that the details of our response weren't going to impact that decision,鈥� he said.

In a Jan. 15 reply sent in response to Kahlon's Dec. 17 letter, Murdoch said Oak Bay has zoning in place for over 15,000 potential additional housing units, adding that he was "disappointed by the tone" of the minister's letter and subsequent comments singling out Oak Bay for 鈥渘ot doing its part.鈥�

"We would have significant concern if a provincially appointed advisor had the power to overwrite bylaws compliant with provincial guidelines or if the guidelines became requirements that ignore local conditions," Murdoch wrote in the letter.

He also stressed that he doesn't think the advisor's review will be helpful.

鈥淭he measurements that the province uses for this is measuring occupancy, which is reflecting policies from anywhere from three to 10 years ago, and so I think we feel like that review is not particularly helpful given that pretty much all of our bylaws have changed in the last 18 months and we're looking forward to further work, so I think there's a bit of a disconnect between what the provinces is measuring and wanting to review,鈥� he said.  

Despite this, the mayor noted that he wants to cooperate with the province to increase housing stock in Oak Bay.

"The critical thing for us is that this seems a fight that the province is picking with a partner who wants to be a partner," he said. "The previous council and this council have prioritized housing ... and invested a really significant amount of money and time to advance housing options in the community."