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Government action for renters and tenants a welcome relief in middle of housing crisis - BCGEU


VANCOUVER –

This week the government of British Columbia announced new initiatives to strengthen protections for renters. BCGEU welcomes these long overdue changes, and applauds the government for continuing to take initiative on the housing file.

"Increasing protections for those facing eviction is an important step in making B.C. more affordable for renters," noted BCGEU president Stephanie Smith. "The new provisions will provide tenants more time to dispute evictions, and the new penalties for landlords who exploit the rules will greatly improve accountability. These are all good concrete steps to protect vulnerable renters."

New relief for renters in British Columbia is much-needed. Many families have been at the mercy of an overheated housing market. Low vacancy rates and underfunding of the Residential Tenancy Branch have made living in B.C. more expensive, housing situations precarious, and assistance hard to access.

These actions are a clear sign that political leaders are starting to respond to the public desire for an affordable British Columbia. Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians are counting on Premier John Horgan and his ministers to stabilize their housing situation and they should be encouraged by these actions. 

"We look forward to the implementation of the changes announced, and the work of the Province's new Rental Housing Task Force. We recognize the importance and timeliness of the work of the task force, and look forward to establishing a dialogue in the coming weeks and months to support action on affordability." said Smith.

The BCGEU, in cooperation with CUPE 1767 has been advocating for strong action on housing through the Affordable BC campaign. Released in November 2017, Affordable BC, is a plan to address speculation and invest in neighbourhoods to solve the affordability crisis. Thousands have already signed online in support of the plan to tackle the housing crisis. Full details of the plan are available at www.affordablebc.ca

The BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) represents information and administrative workers at the Residential Tenancy branch as well as more than 74,000 workers in more than 550 bargaining units throughout British Columbia. 

 



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