The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby promoted housing protectionism in the name of affordability on June 18, when they announced an "innovative" financing program to use taxpayer dollars to convert 2,200 empty condos into rentals. Guest columinst John Turley-Ewart writes that few took Mr. Carney's Housing Minister, Gregor Robertson, seriously when the former Vancouver mayor told reporters a year ago that housing prices didn't have to go down, and that Ottawa needed to deliver more supply. Mr. Carney's B.C. initiative is an attempt to save owners and developers from the kind of price corrections TD Economics predicted in early June. Its report details the dire state of the Greater Vancouver Area condo market, forecasting a 15-per-cent decline from a 2023 high by mid-2027. The bright side for the Vancouver area? The condo market in the Greater Toronto Area is even worse. Condo sales are so slow in the GTA it would take 20 years to clear the current inventory of unsold units if the pace continues, Ontario is partnering with developers and institutional investors to create a $1-billion fund to convert 2,200 unsold condos to rental apartments.