Liberals shut down debate over Carney condo ‘bailout’ probe at ethics committee

Prime Minister Mark Carney announces "Building Canada Strong" in the River District in Vancouver, BC on Thursday, June 18, 2026. Photo by Phillip Chin /Phillip Chin

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Liberal members of the House ethics committee shut down debate Tuesday over an Opposition motion to investigate the Carney government’s controversial plan to purchase thousands of unsold B.C. condos from developers.

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An “emergency” meeting was called by the Conservatives during the summer recess on Tuesday to launch an ethics probe into the program, which would see Build Canada Homes and BC Housing partner to convert 2,200 unsold condo units in the province into affordable housing. The plan, announced unexpectedly, has received significant criticism from housing advocates and opposition parties, who have called it a “bail out” for developers that made bad calls speculating on rising real estate prices.

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However, a Liberal MP moved a motion to adjourn debate on the issue, on the basis that summer is not the best time to tackle the issue, and members of the committee should be in their constituencies.

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The motion carried with the Liberal majority in support.

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Conservative MP Aaron Gunn had tabled the motion to summon Vancouver developer Bob Rennie, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson, B.C. Housing Minister Christine Boyle to testify before the committee, as well as representatives from Build Canada Homes, BC Housing, and Brookfield Asset Management, among others. Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously been chairman of Brookfield Asset Management before entering politics.

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Gunn’s motion also called for Duncan Wlodarczak, chair of the Liberal Party of Canada in British Columbia, to testify. Wlodarczak worked for Vision Vancouver, the party Robertson represented when he was the city’s mayor. Wlodarczak is currently chief of staff to the president of Onni Group, a Vancouver-based real estate developer.

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“Canadians have very real concerns about the Liberal plan to bail out billionaire condo developers in the fifth most unaffordable housing market in the entire world,” said Gunn.

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“All this begs some pretty obvious ethical questions that I think deserve answers, such as if the Liberals didn’t campaign on this policy, why are they suddenly deciding to pursue it now?”

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Liberal members of the committee criticized Conservatives for calling for an investigation on a program where the full details are not fully public yet.

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Liberal MP and vice-chair of the committee Linda Lapointe said Opposition MPs were making baseless accusations.

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Liberal MP Fares Al Soud said the 2,200 homes would not be an insignificant addition to the affordable housing supply, and that only $150 million of federal taxpayer money is allocated towards the initiative, before moving the motion to adjourn.

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“Canadians are intelligent, and they will make their own minds up through the facts, and that is exactly how it should be,” he said. “With that chair, I move to adjourn debate.”

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Al Soud then attempted to table another motion to set the agenda for the proceeding committee meetings, that would include a statutory review of the Lobbying Act, the use of artificial intelligence in algorithmic pricing and a review of the Privacy Act.