Rich Chinese face backlash in North America's costliest city

Calgary

JAMES Hankle, a 50-something software engineer sporting blue jeans and a Green Party T-shirt, is explaining his fix for Vancouver's runaway property prices when he's interrupted by an eavesdropping passer-by: "Stop allowing people from China to buy our houses and leave them vacant," she says and walks away.

Despite British Columbia's aversion to pipelines and affection for pot, housing affordability has pushed both aside as the No 1 issue raised by area residents in the run-up to Canada's election this month. It's not completely surprising given that Vancouver has become North America's most expensive city.

Surging purchase prices have triggered protest movements like #donthave1million, started by a group of young professionals frustrated at being shut out of home ownership. They complain of having to delay starting fa…