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Winnipeg Free Press

Renters group wants Kinew to make good on rent-control promise made during 2023 campaign

A Manitoba housing advocacy group is putting the provincial NDP on notice after they say campaign promises to better protect renters have been left unanswered. The Right to Housing Coalition took to Premier Wab Kinew's constituency office Friday morning to deliver what they described as a warning letter about the province's inaction on rent-control legislation, despite promising to 'bring in stronger rent controls and make housing more affordable for renters' while campaigning as the NDP leader in 2023. 'When anyone rents a place, they enter into an agreement — in Premier Kinew's tenancy as a premier, he said that he would put it as a priority to strengthen rent-control legislation to protect our renters from big rate hike increases. And we've gone through two sessions of the legislature and that has not happened,' said Les Scott. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Les Scott (left) a member of the West Broadway Tenant's Committee during a protest outside Premier Kinew's constituency office at 565 Osborne St. Friday. 'So, yes, we say that he has violated his contract.' While the NDP was in opposition, then-housing critic Adrien Sala, currently the minister of finance, introduced a bill that would make it more difficult for landlords to apply for and get approval for rent increases above the province's set guidelines. The bill proposed tightening the list of capital expenses that could be included in the landlord's above-guideline rent increase application. Sala introduced the legislation after a freedom of information request revealed that every one of the 310 above-guideline rent increase requests submitted to the Residential Tenancies Board in 2019 was granted. That bill did not move forward. Scott said the NDP, now in government, can re-introduce it. 'The legislation has been written, it just has not been introduced… I can't comment on (why), but I'm sure there's a lot of pressure from property managers that would be opposed to this,' he said. Rent control legislation falls under the responsibility of the minister of public service delivery. Scott said Right to Housing has spoken with both current minister Mintu Sandhu and Lisa Naylor, who previously held the position; both were 'interested' in the legislation, but neither took action. Sandhu said he planned to meet with Right to Housing Monday and his office is still reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act to find ways to better protect renters. 'We are reviewing it and then we will be acting on that review, because we want to make sure we get it right,' he said. Much of the provincial government's public-facing focus on housing issues has been through the implementation of the Your Way Home strategy to end chronic homelessness. Moving forward on one aspect of Manitoba's housing crisis while leaving another in the dust is a matter of political will, said Shauna MacKinnon, chair of the University of Winnipeg's department of urban and inner-city studies. 'They try to kind of get around by doing a little here, do a little there, and then that's why we're in this problem that we're in, that's been regularly getting worse,' she said. While she's happy to see the province invest in social housing for people in urgent need, she argued that pressure from building managers could be behind the province's slow pace on rent controls. 'We would be seen as one of the more progressive (provinces) because it's an NDP government. But we always run up against the wall, right?' she said. Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'They'll only go so far, and they won't do what's necessary, (while) trying to please everybody… people are disappointed, they had hoped for a lot more.' Sandhu disagreed, pointing to a recent bill tabled by the NDP that would require landlords to provide financial support to tenants displaced due to a safety issue, including footing the bill for hotel rooms and personal belongings. 'I'm not under pressure from anyone, I'm listening to (advocates),' he said. The proposal includes exceptions if the landlord took all reasonable steps to prevent the circumstances that resulted in a vacate order, or if the damage was caused by a tenant. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. 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