Nova Scotia ACORN

Nova Scotia ACORN started out in Sydney, Cape Breton back in 2011. In 2012, NS ACORN moved to the HRM and first started organizing in North Dartmouth. We established our North Central Halifax Chapter in May 2014 and our Dartmouth North Chapter in September 2014 -- and we will be coming soon to a neighbourhood near you!

In the meantime, we've been busy fighting back against slumlords, pushing the city to introduce landlord licensing, and campaigning for better living conditions for public housing tenants. Nova Scotia ACORN is also fighting for the return of rent control to Nova Scotia, a living wage, and affordable access to the internet.

Want to join the fight? Join ACORN!

 

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Nova Scotia ACORN - Compiled Candidate Responses

Nova Scotia ACORN Members sent a letter signed by dozens of participants from our Tenant’s Rights Townhall to all major parties. We provided the following recommendations on low-cost, easy to implement reforms to improve affordability and habitability of rental housing in Nova Scotia: 
 
-Bring back rent control to Nova Scotia by re-implementing the Rent Review Act.
-Revising the Residential Tenancy Act to allow to tenants’ to file a collective complaint against their landlord.

Nova Scotia ACORN Members Demand a Strengthening of Tenants’ Rights

 
An Open Letter to MLA Candidates
 
ACORN members and their allies are coming together to demand a strengthening of tenants’ rights in Nova Scotia. We have identified three key changes that the next government can enact immediately:
 
·      Bring back rent control to Nova Scotia by re-implementing the Rent Review Act.
 
·      Revising the Residential Tenancy Act to allow to tenants’ to file a collective complaint against their landlord.
 

Halifax Media Co-op: ACORN Canada Aims to Tackle Dartmouth Slums

Be thankful you don't have to breathe it: Black mold everywhere. [Photo: Miles Howe]Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – Jessica Bastarache greets Evan Coole, organizer for ACORN Canada, at the back door of a Jackson Road low-rise in Dartmouth. There's no lock on the door of the building, and as we descend the stairs towards the basement level, signs of destruction and disrepair are everywhere.

Gaping holes have been punched and kicked in the drywall, pieces of which are ground into the hallway carpet. People have been playing tic-tac-toe on the walls with indelible markers. There are no fire extinguishers, some parts of the hallway are not lit, and exposed wires hang from the ceiling. The air is humid and stale, thick with moisture and mold.

“There's some splatter of something,” says Jessica, pointing to a sticky smear dripping down the hallway wall. “God only knows what that is.”

We crunch our way through the dimly lit hallway and stop at the apartment adjacent to Bastarache's. The lock on the door is broken, and the apartment is vacant. The smell from outside the door is one that suggests an absence of breathable oxygen, and we all reflexively recoil a half-step.

“This one here is the bad apartment. I don't know if you want to go in here,” says Bastarache as she opens the door.

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