Hundreds rally for rent control
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia tenants who feel vulnerable due to the prospect of spiralling rent increases found strength in numbers Saturday at a Rent Control Now! rally in front of Halifax City Hall.
Roughly 300 protesters and residents feeling the pinch between the region’s low vacancy rate and ever-increasing housing costs gathered in Grand Parade to share their stories and later marched to Province House to call on the government to reinstate rent control and curb the housing crunch faced by Nova Scotians.
The rally was one of two in the province organized for Saturday by ACORN, an independent advocate for those fighting for affordable housing and a living wage.
A second rally took place in Antigonish’s Chisholm Park, followed by a march to the office of MLA Randy Delorey.
In Halifax, attendees respected social distancing and wore face masks in order to hear the messages of ACORN organizers, stories of neglect and rent-gouging by landlords, and calls for change from NDP MLA and housing spokeswoman Lisa Roberts and provincial NDP Leader Gary Burrill.
“It is the job of government to protect people who are vulnerable,” said Roberts, whose party tabled rent control legislation in 2017.
“When (Premier) Stephen McNeil or (Housing Minister) Chuck Porter say that rent control doesn’t work, the right question to ask them is, ‘For whom does it not work?’”
Both Roberts and Burrill cited the effectiveness of rent control in other provinces like British Columbia and Manitoba, especially at a time when COVID-19 is exacerbating the problem.
“Basically, it recognizes there is no justification for rent going up 15 per cent when inflation is at 1.5 per cent,” said Roberts, who said those most affected include students, seniors, immigrants and refugees, and individuals and families on social assistance.
For Spryfield resident Fabian Donovan, it’s a fight that feels all too familiar, as he recalled how his mother, activist Melvina Donovan, fought for and achieved rent control legislation alongside former Halifax city councillor Graham Downey in the 1970s, legislation which was ended by the Liberal government under Premier John Savage in 1993.
As a 62-year-old on a fixed disability pension, Donovan says he’s had months where he’s had to choose between medication, food and rent, and while his recent $30 monthly rental increase isn’t as bad as some recent spikes in the city that have been cited as hundreds of dollars more, he dreads what’s to come down the road.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future if this isn’t stopped,” Donovan said shortly before addressing the crowd.
“At my age, I might have another 20 years or so, but it’s the next generation coming up that I’m concerned about.
“I’m doing this for my kids, my grandkids, your grandkids.”
Hannah Wood, rally organizer and ACORN's Halifax-Peninsula chair, described the city’s low vacancy rate as a major contributing factor allowing property owners to take advantage of the high demand for accommodations, “feeding and exploiting that desperate state that people are in for an apartment.
The rally also offered Wood and ACORN an opportunity to call for increased responsibility on the part of landlords, including some form of licensing, and a full review of the province’s Residential Tenancies Act.