VANCOUVER - With Vancouver voters set to cast ballots in two provincial byelections next week, the NDP is making affordable housing a key plank in its campaign.
NDP leader Carole James appeared with party candidates Spencer Herbert and Jenn McGinn outside an apartment building in Vancouver's West End on Wednesday to call for greater protection for apartment renters, as well as more investment in social housing.
"If you look at Vancouver and Victoria, you have almost a zero vacancy rate," said James, who is campaigning for the Oct. 29 byelections.
She said it's almost impossible for renters to find affordable housing.
"And now we see people being evicted from buildings that provide the only affordable housing in many of our neighbourhoods."
James said people shouldn't have to go to court to fight evictions in order to have an affordable place to live.
She called for the re-establishment of a residential tenancy office, saying such an office once located in the West End served more than 10,000 people annually until it was shut down by Premier Gordon Campbell's government in 2002.
She said that decision to close the office left residents who were unfairly handed eviction notices to fend for themselves through the courts.
"Especially in Vancouver, where so many people rent, a residential tenancy office helps protect tenants' rights. Anyone who rents knows the importance of this service, particularly during a tight rental market," James said.
Sharon Isaak, a member of the Renters at Risk campaign, successfully fought off her own eviction but she said changes need to be made to a system that leaves many tenants perplexed.
"The system is broken," Isaak said at the news conference.
"The law needs to be changed to protect tenants. ... There's all these different ways to get around rent control that so few tenants actually understand."
Herbert, the NDP candidate for Vancouver-Burrard, said the apartment building where the press conference was held issued eviction notices to all of its residents in April on the grounds that renovations needed to be made.
Those who wanted to return after the renovations were complete were told there would be a substantial rent increase. About half of the Glenmore Apartments' tenants have since left.
Herbert said that with West End vacancy rates at just 0.2 per cent, he's met two people who were forced out of their homes and are now homeless, seeking shelter in Stanley Park.
