Rent strike promoted as job losses continue
‘I know tons of people ... who have lost work altogether in the service industry’
Robyn Burns says many renters in Niagara will be participating in a rent strike on April 1 — whether they want to or not.
“That’s the reality,” said Burns, a PhD student at University of Waterloo who is working to promote a rent strike in Niagara. “And if it’s not April 1, then come May 1, I’m certain even more people will unwillingly or unknowingly be participating in a rent strike.”
With so many job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Burns said they “simply can’t make that payment.”
Burns works from home and feels confident she will be able to continue paying rent on her St. Catharines apartment, but she said she became concerned about many of her friends when she learned they were losing their jobs.
“Their jobs were basically dropping like flies, initially with reduced hours and now we’re going into a state of emergency that’s going to close anything that’s not essential,” she said.
“I know tons of people in the Niagara region who have lost work altogether in the service industry who are being told it’s going to be weeks be
fore they see if they’re eligible for emergency benefits, because they don’t qualify for EI. There are migrant workers in the region who are also affected by the loss of work and border closure. There are a lot of people being massively economically impacted.”
The federal government quickly provided relief for homeowners and landlords, allowing mortgage payments to be deferred, while also providing $27 billion in funding to help Canadians pay for such things as rent as part of a $82billion emergency aid package.
The province has also put a moratorium on evictions in light of the pandemic.
But Burns fears it won’t be enough.
“Essentially, right now what’s being promised is a halt on eviction proceedings. If people in Niagara region are unable to make their rent they are going to start accruing debt.”
Once the evictions moratorium is lifted, she said tenants fear they will then be subject to eviction proceedings if they are unable to pay that debt.
Although landlords will be able to defer their mortgage payments, she said the landlords will still be collecting rent from tenants “who are just as much, if not more, economically marginalized in the first place.”
Burns said she teamed up with other like-minded Niagara residents to promote a rent strike for the region. They have created a Facebook page to promote the rent strike. Search RentStrikeNiagara on Facebook.
It’s one of similar initiatives taking place in other communities throughout North America calling for an immediate freeze on rent charges, and sharing a unified message that “it’s not OK to lean on the renting class which is largely the working class to prop up the economy amid a global pandemic.”
Burns said the system “is fundamentally flawed.”
“During a pandemic they’re going to place people under extra stress and duress to try to find ways to come up with rent, or to have to navigate that difficult conversation with their landlord,” she said.
Although a rent strike may seem extreme to some people, she said there are other ways for people to participate — whether it’s lobbying governments or discussing the issues people facing. Allan.Benner@niagaradailies.com 905-225-1629 | @abenner1