ACORN Canada kicked off its provincial Healthy Homes campaign in New Westminster Wednesday night.
Fed up with British Columbia's ineffective tenancy laws, more than 80 ACORN members gathered in New Westminster on July 4 to celebrate "tenant independence day" by launching the provincial campaign. The B.C. chapter, which is based in New Westminster, is calling on the provincial government to commit to comprehensive reforms to existing tenancy laws and to give ACORN an opportunity to have input into these reforms as they are drafted.
Sue Collard, a member of ACORN who has fought for much-needed repairs to her Surrey apartment building, said the existing system makes it "virtually impossible" for tenants to ensure that repairs are done in their buildings, and many people are being denied healthy homes because of the ineffectiveness of the system. She noted that many tenants face discrimination from their landlords if they draw attention to the lack of repairs being done.
David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said his organization generally deals with "controversial ideas" - not something as basic as whether people are entitled to have safe homes. He said the association would be willing to support ACORN and its Healthy Homes campaign because people have the right to organize themselves and to enjoy free speech without fear of being persecuted by people or agencies - including landlords.
"We will be here for you," he said. "I look forward to working with your issue on those kinds of things."
ACORN wants municipalities to be able to take action for dealing with businesses (property owners) that are operating improperly in their communities. Because municipalities can't deal with issues like harassment and intimidation of tenants seeking repairs and healthy homes, members believe other levels of government need to be part of the solution.
ACORN members have voiced concerns that the Residential Tenancy Office and the Residential Tenancy Act in B.C. are not working properly and need to be improved.
"The problem is with the housing system," said one ACORN member at Wednesday's rally. "I think there is something wrong with the system when tenants can't get repairs, even after going through all these hoops."
Shane Simpson, the provincial NDP's housing critic, recalled visiting a rental building in his VancouverHastings riding.
"It had been left in disrepair for years and years," he said. "The roof of the building collapsed."
According to Simpson, the tools in place to "push back" against bad landlords are limited. He said the NDP has raised concerns about the need for legislation to deal with unjustified rent increases and landlords who evict existing tenants under the guise of doing substantial repairs - only to do superficial renovations, double the rents and bring in new tenants.
Simpson said tenants living in rental apartments that require substantial renovations should have the "first right to return" after those renovations are done, and to be ensured of "fair rates" when they move back into the building. He suggested the province needs to give cities clout to enforce bylaws regarding rental units, and must be prepared to step up and intervene if municipalities are not taking action or are unable to do so.
"You have got people paying $900 or $1,000 a month and their places are not safe," he said. "The services and things don't work. That is not acceptable."
Simpson said there's "no doubt" the Residential Tenancy Act needs to be reviewed. He told the crowd that the Residential Tenancy Office's resources have been cut through the years, which has impacted its ability to do inspections.
"The government has chipped away and chipped away at that office," he said. "That's part of the problem. ... They have eroded its capability to do its job."
