The NDP candidate in Vancouver-Fairview has called on her Liberal opponent to resign for allegedly misleading voters about her property holdings.

According to Jenn McGinn, at a public forum last week, Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid stated she and her husband had difficulty buying a home in Vancouver.

MacDiarmid owns three properties — a house in Rossland, a cabin north of Nelson and a condo in Vancouver’s Arbutus area, currently assessed at more than $1.4 million.

“She needs to resign,” McGinn said. “I certainly think she was trying to play up to the crowd.

“She said she can’t afford a home in Vancouver. We have it on record here that she does have a home in Vancouver.”

McGinn beat MacDiarmid for the seat left vacant by Gregor Robertson in a byelection last Fall. Housing affordability — rising rents and evictions — is a key issue in this riding contest.

In an interview with The Province, MacDiarmid said she didn’t mean to mislead anyone.

“For sure, I said my husband and I hadn’t been able to buy a house when we started looking in Vancouver,” she said. “The issue was about a house.

“Yes, we definitely do own three properties. And if we divested ourselves of all of our properties, we could buy a house, somewhere in Fairview, without question.”

“I certainly didn’t mean, in any way, to offend anyone or be misleading about my assets,” she added. “What I was really trying to say is ‘I understand housing is very expensive in Vancouver.’”

MacDiarmid, a general practitioner and former president of the B.C. Medical Association, is married to Robert Hobbs, ex-chair of the B.C. Utilities Commission.

MacDiarmid said she’s offended that McGinn is questioning her integrity. MacDiarmid has challenged McGinn to debate her at an all-candidates meeting Thursday night at the Ridge Theatre, but says McGinn is refusing to attend.

“I think my opponent is taking me very seriously,” she said. “There have been a number of people that I’ve door-knocked that do not know who their MLA is. I think that this, perhaps, [is] desperation.”