NDP tenant protection bill would extend rent-hike protection to all
QUEEN’S PARK — A day after a Toronto City Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of supporting NDP MPP Peter Tabuns’ (Toronto-Danforth) bill to extend protections against unreasonable rent hikes to all renters, the Wynne government refused to say if it will support his bill and protect tenants in Toronto.
“During a town hall meeting I recently hosted in my riding, I met a couple who told me they were living on a seniors’ pension of $1,400 per month. Their rent is $1,000.” said Tabuns. “They are terrified that their landlord might hike the rent and make it impossible to keep living in their unit and also afford to eat.”
There’s a 10- to 15-year waiting list for affordable housing, and Tabuns said the elderly couple can’t wait.
“After 14 years of Liberal government, why do seniors still live in fear they may lose their homes due to unfair, unreasonable and unaffordable rent increases?” asked Tabuns.
Tabuns’ bill would reverse a loophole introduced by the Conservative government that removed almost all rent control on properties built after 1991.
“The PC government opened renters up to these unreasonable hikes, and the Wynne government has refused to fix that problem,” said Tabuns.
“Before any more renters face an unreasonable hike, before any more renters have to move out of the their home, the NDP is calling on the Wynne government to listen to tenants, take this problem seriously and extend rent-hike protections to everyone,” said Tabuns.