ACORN Members Facing Displacement Hold “Bed-In” at City Hall

Posted July 12, 2021

ACORN members from across Ottawa who are facing displacement due to renovictions and demovictions held a “Bed-In” protest at City Hall on the morning of Wednesday, July 7th. 

Members from the west end in Manor Village, Herongate, and Vanier set up tents, and sleeping bags outside of city hall to show councillors where many of them will end up without greater protections for tenants. ACORN members are specifically calling on the city to enact an Anti-Displacement Policy, similar to what has been implemented in Burnaby, B.C. 

An Anti-Displacement Policy that would protect tenants from renovictions and demovictions consists of 3 key elements:

Rental Replacement 

• An Anti-Displacement Policy has 3 key elements to prevent demovictions and renovictions 
• In the case of the redevelopment of affordable housing, an Anti-Displacement Policy ensures rental replacements so that if the developer eliminates affordable market rental units or subsidized units, they are included in the new development for the same price and number of bedrooms. 
• Units lost to redevelopment must be replaced at a ratio of 1:1 or 20% of the total number of proposed units, whichever is greater.
• Tenants who are evicted should have the first right of refusal to move back into the units created in the new development, at the same rent that they were paying before. 

Rent Stabilization

• While tenants are waiting for their redeveloped unit, they will have to live somewhere else. It is likely that this temporary place will be much more expensive than their original unit, so: 
• Tenants can choose between accepting temporary accommodation (given 3 options) of comparable size and location at the same rent they were paying before OR the tenant can find their own unit and the landlord must provide a rental top up so their rent does not increase.

Moving Cost Coverage

• Moving costs assistance up to 1400 dollars depending on the size of your unit for when you relocate to a temporary unit and again when you return

Councillors McKenney and Leiper spoke to members at the “bed-In” to voice their support for the policy and the action was covered by the Ottawa Citizen, Sun, Le Doit, CBC, CTV, Capital Current and City News. 

ACORN members are now waiting on the release of the City’s staff report researching the tools the municipality has to prevent renovictions and demovictions. 

Sign the online action calling on Ottawa City Council to implement an Anti-Displacement Policy here

PRESS

CBC News: Ottawa ACORN Action Against Renovictions 

Ottawa Citizen: ‘Reno-viction’ rage: Tenants demand policies to protect low-income renters in Ottawa

Ottawa Sun: ‘RENO-VICTION’: Tenants demand policies to protect low-income renters

Le Droit: Ottawa: ACORN demande un règlement contre les «rénovictions»

Capital Current: ‘Reno-viction’ rage: Tenants demand policies to protect low-income renters in Ottawa

CityNews: ACORN protest at City Hall

CTV News Ottawa: Bed-in protest at City Hall

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