October 19th, 2021
October 19th, 2021
ST. CATHARINES – MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) demanded action from Doug Ford in question period on Tuesday regarding the rise in illegal renovictions affecting seniors in several apartment buildings in St. Catharines. She released the following statement:
“Seniors in St. Catharines are being forced out of the homes they have lived in for decades because greedy speculators are buying up rental buildings and issuing mass eviction orders under the guise of needing people to move so they can renovate.
Many of these seniors have no internet access and are unsure about how to fight back against illegal renovictions at the Landlord and Tenant Board. They are being bullied by landlords who just want them gone.
Those who want to stay in their homes, in their own communities, are seeing their rent jump from $900 to $2,000 per month because of the renovations. Seniors on a pension simply can’t afford to have their rent more than double in order to line an investor’s pockets.
The housing crisis is worsening all around Ontario under Doug Ford’s watch, and St. Catharines seniors are being forced to bear the brunt of it. Ford must stop defending his buddies in the housing business, and act to make sure seniors can stay in their homes and afford their rent.”
The NDP has previously introduced bills to crack down on renovictions by raising penalties on landlords who illegally evict tenants and increasing enforcement of eviction laws. The NDP has also introduced the Rent Stabilization Act, which would close the loophole that allows landlords to increase rent by any amount once a tenant leaves, helping to eliminate the financial incentive to renovict tenants.