Press Hits

Le gouvernement Houston a lancé sa rentrée législative en annonçant deux nouveaux projets de loi dont un « omnibus » qui vise à modifier huit lois. L’opposition officielle a pointé du doigt un texte de loi « bâclé », qui manque de transparence. Le projet de loi de « protection des Néo-Écossais » prévoit des dispositions relatives à la protection des données, à la formation des videurs, au soutien aux victimes de violences conjugales et aux nouveaux pouvoirs permettant de faire face aux manifestants qui bloquent les routes forestières sur les terres de la Couronne.

The scorching temperatures have inspired tenant advocacy group ACORN Ottawa to fight for a heat bylaw. A report from the organization found that around half of low-to-moderate income tenants lack air conditioning, with affordability as the root cause. Out of all respondents, 54 per cent said extreme heat was their top housing issue.

When a Dieppe-based holding company bought an apartment building in central Moncton earlier this year, low-income tenants learned that the new owner was no longer accepting rent subsidies from NB Housing. That meant those low-income residents at 320 St. George Street would either have to pay market prices or leave. The new landlord cleared out about half of the tenants and began renovations. Now, the same landlord is trying to remove the remaining tenants in order to renovate their homes — and convert them into subsidized housing units. By Friday, authorities had rejected at least one of those termination notices, saying it violated the Residential Tenancies Act.

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Hamilton ACORN members joined counterparts in other Ontario cities — Toronto, Ottawa, London, Kitchener and Brampton — to call for an immediate doubling of ODSP and Ontario Works (OW). “ODSP equals poverty,” Davignon chanted through a megaphone, before he and others handed a letter listing their demands to a manager in the Ellen Fairclough Building. Nonetheless, he considers himself “lucky” to have his $850-a-month room in a shared accommodation given the going rents in other buildings, Davignon said in an interview. That’s well below the average rent for a vacant one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, which was $1,790 in August

Hamilton city council is set to require landlords of units with air conditioners to maintain a maximum temperature of 26 C — but a long-awaited “adequate temperature” bylaw for all rental units is still to come. Councillors at the city’s planning committee voted unanimously last week to require landlords who have provided air conditioning (AC) to keep it in good repair — and able to keep the apartment unit’s temperature below 26 C. The decision is to be ratified by council Wednesday.