Jagmeet Singh demands feds lower rent by ending flow of money to "rich corporate landlords"
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on Ottawa to lower rent by ending the flow of government money to corporate landlords who “gouge Canadians.”
During a press conference on Monday, Singh announced his demands after visiting three apartment buildings in Toronto affected by skyrocketing rental prices.
Tenants at 33 King Street, 22 John Street and 1440-1442 Lawrence Avenue West have been on a rent strike against Dream Unlimited and Barney River Investments since last year.
33 King Street RENT STRIKE started today!
Hundreds of tenants are withholding rent from their landlord Dream, who has been increasing rents 3 times higher than rent control.
Even during the pandemic rent freeze in 2021, Dream increased rents by 3% in the building pic.twitter.com/cY6PeG4ufO
— YSW Tenant Union (@YSWtenants) June 1, 2023
Despite conditions like closed balconies and mouse and cockroach infestations so bad that Canada Post refuses to enter one of the buildings, tenants have been subjected to what Singh says are “out-of-control rent hikes.”
“Imagine living in a building that’s infested and crumbling and getting yet another notice for a rip-off rent increase from a corporate landlord who refuses to make much-needed repairs,” he said in a news release.
“Families are being squeezed, people can’t afford to move out of rat-trap apartments and working folks who do everything right still can’t get ahead.”
The NDP leader says that “the housing system is rigged,” accusing the Liberals and Conservatives of designing a system favouring affluent investors and big corporate landlords.
“The Liberals have let them down. The Conservatives — Pierre Poilievre — want to add fuel to the fire,” he said during the press conference.
According to the NDP, the federal government provides a suite of funds to big corporate landlords. These include low-interest loans, preferential tax treatment, and mortgage loan insurance.
Singh demands that all those measures stop for “big corporate landlords that gouge, rake in excessive profits or fail to provide decent homes for their tenants.”
The NDP leader also claims that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke his 2021 platform promise to stop renovictions and deter unfair rent increases, and went back on his claim that he’d stop the preferential tax treatment and excessive profits for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
“Instead, he’s allowed 370,000 affordable homes to be sold off to rich developers,” alleges Singh.
In the 2024 federal budget, the Liberal government proposed several measures to tackle affordable housing.
One is the Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights, which includes action items like creating a federal legal aid fund to help renters right bad-faith evictions and making credit bureaus take rent payments into account when calculating someone’s credit score.
The government has also introduced the Canada Rental Protection Fund, which promises to provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in contributions to help affordable housing organizations acquire properties, preserve rent at stable levels, and prevent those units from being redeveloped into luxury condos.
Singh added that Poilievre “would pour gasoline on the fire” of soaring rent, claiming that the Conservative leader’s political advisor, Jenni Byrne, “is a lobbyist that works for real estate investment firms and developers.”
“[Poilievre] doesn’t have any rules or regulations for his buddies. He wants them to make a bigger profit, jack up your rents, and rip you off,” he said during the press conference.
The federal lobbying commission is currently assessing allegations against Byrne’s political consulting firm.
What do you think of Singh’s demands? Let us know in the comments.
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