On October 23rd, there was ‘Solidarity Rent Freeze Rally‘ across Ontario.
ACORN members were highlighting the need for urgent action to protect affordable housing in Ontario.
On the same day, Premier Doug Ford announced a new set of proposed changes to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) that would strip away key tenant protections, fast-track evictions, and open the door to ending rent control.
Currently in Ontario, the lease term ends immediately after the lease term ends by default, in which case it automatically moves on a yearly basis at the same rate as the lease term. This will ensure the security of housing tenure.
Fixed-term leases can force landlords to unilaterally block, evict, or pay more rent at the end of a rental period (usually a year), essentially a backdoor to remove rent control.
Bill 60, including this, is still a challenge for ACORN members to fight.
Rob Gaebel (image source : Emily Kim)
Rob Gaebel, one of the leaders from the Central chapter of London ACORN, said Ford has taken a step back in considering a fixed-term lease after last week’s protests.
“We mobilized over 500 people in a Zoom meeting to discuss the issue, and that generated 23,000 emails to Doug Ford, Housing Minister Rob Flack, and Attorney General Doug Downey and other MPPs protesting the end of basically tenancy security,” Gaebel said.
He explained about what ACORN members need to do next to stop the Ford government’s Bill 60.
“Over the next three days, we’re going to, ACORN members in Ontario are going to be ringing phones, knocking on doors, and mobilizing renters in key conservative writings to flood Doug Ford, the Housing Minister, and PC MPPs with calls demanding they withdraw Bill 60 and keep their hands off rent control for good,” Gaebel said.
He also explained that what can Londoners do to prevent Bill 60.
“Blood the emails and even the snail mail of Doug Ford and the housing minister and progressive conservative MPPs telling them that they don’t want Bill 60,” Gaebel added.
“It needs to be dropped and the government needs to keep their hands off of rent control.”
ACORN members will have a province-wide virtual meeting on Zoom at noon on November 13rd.
ACORN Canada is a national independent organization of low-and-moderate income families with 186,000+ members in 31+ neighbourhood chapters across 6 provinces.
