Two open letters—receiving two very different reactions—have underscored the deep rift in the current debate about how to solve Canada’s increasingly urgent housing crisis.

The first letter, signed by 27 housing observers and addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney and federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson, was a catch-all of criticisms and contradictions, a defence of low-density zoning, and an attack on investors and market fundamentals. The fact this letter has been, for the most part, warmly received speaks volumes about the state of discourse on housing in this province.

A second letter, signed by 25 prominent B.C.-based developers called —cautiously—for modification of the foreign investor ban, which is just one of many regulatory constraints holding back an industry already in deep distress.

Even if you disagree that foreign buyers are the answer, the case made by the developers is economically coherent. Setting conditions that encourage investors (both foreign and domestic) to get back into the pre-sale condo market will lead to more projects that are able to meet financing requirements and move forward to construction, ultimately resulting in new homes that end up rented out to........

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