April ChiefCalf
Saskatchewan NDP
The Saskatchewan NDP will not stand by while big corporate landlords headquartered in Alberta and Toronto jack up rents 20, sometimes 30 per cent on our seniors and kids.
That’s why we introduced Bill 608, The Rent Control Act.
Our team spent months consulting with experts, not-for-profit organizations, home builders, landlords and landlord organizations, and of course, renters.
There are 300,000 renters in Saskatchewan. Many are working multiple jobs and doing everything they can to get by. But they are still having to choose between rent and groceries.
One of the people we’ve heard from is a senior with cancer who has had to give away her cats because she can’t afford to keep them while her rent keeps going up. She needs help, and so do so many like her.
After 18 years of Sask. Party government, this province is like the wild west of big corporate landlords. One company, Boardwalk, says Saskatchewan is their most profitable market. Much of that money is going straight out of the province.
Current legislation governs the timing and frequency of rent increases, but there’s no ceiling on how big rent increases can be.
That’s why our bill ties rent increases to the consumer price index. Rents in Saskatchewan have gone up for 40 consecutive months and 24 per cent in the past two years – the highest increase in Canada.
Now, you’ll hear a lot from Scott Moe and his friends about how rent control dries up money needed to build new apartments.
The truth is that’s a bunch of nonsense, and the numbers just don’t back that up. If anything is hurting construction, it’s the Sask. Party’s tax on construction.
It’s exactly what a tired, old government would say to protect their corporate landlord friends. It’s what you say if you’ve stopped listening to the people who really need help.
The truth, according to Statistics Canada, is that nearly every province that has implemented rent control has seen a greater increase in new housing investments than Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan needs rent control to help literally hundreds of thousands of people to make ends meet.
It will restore balance to a system that is working great for big corporate out-of-province interests, not for the thousands of people who simply want to live affordably right here in Saskatchewan.
April ChiefCalf is the NDP MLA for Saskatoon Westview and the opposition Shadow Minister for Housing. She is also a member of the Standing Committee on Human Services.
