Debates of March 10, 2009 (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue that I raised today in my Member’s statement will be the focus of my questions to the Minister of Justice. I keep raising the issue of fair rent for working families. My first question to the Minister of Justice is, what is stopping his department from looking into the issue of some type of rent control that provides protection for working families due to increased cost to the rent?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The rent control is a separate issue that we’re currently talking about here. That area will definitely have, whether it be positive or negative, impacts. We realize that other jurisdictions do have rent control and we have reviewed that. We have investigated that. There are pros and cons. We can certainly share that with the standing committee if we need to move in that direction. The local contractors may not be able to build units if they can’t control the rent. So those are the areas that we seriously looked at. We continue to do more research in that area.

With respect to how the rental officer deals with issues or complaints that are brought to attention on notification of rent increase given notice, those are the areas that the rental officer is in charge of. We continue to work with that.

I would like to ask the Minister of Justice if he would take on the initiative to consult with people in a public way on their feelings regarding rent control and the matter of providing reasonable protection for renters and, at the same time, provide reasonable protection for landlords who have to make sure they cover their costs and make a reasonable profit. Would the Minister take on that challenge and create some type of public discussions so that we can have some public awareness and some real, true public feedback on this issue?

Certainly this is one area we need more consultation with the general public. It will be, I guess, a bigger discussion that we need to have within this Legislative Assembly. We need to hear the input of the general public. We can certainly work towards that with the Members of the standing committee on how we can pursue that.

The Minister had said we need more consultation with the public and then he said a few other things I didn’t quite write down, but he also said works towards this with the standing committee. I just want to be clear, in my experience here, that almost sounded like a commitment that the Department of Justice will investigate this issue and create some type of public dialogue. Can I get that clearly on the record today, that the Minister of Justice will create some type of dialogue framework or discussion paper, get out, speak to committee as well as speak to the public?

As the Minister responsible for Justice, I continue to work with the standing committee and I certainly don’t want to run with the legislation without consultation with the standing committee. As a commitment from my perspective portfolios and also this government, we need to consult with the standing committee. I will continue to do so. I’m making a commitment to work with the standing committee on a moving-forward basis.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. Can I get some clarification from the Minister when the particular committee, which would be the Standing Committee on Social Programs, when does he expect to be able to reach out and create some type of discussion with that committee before going public with the public discussion paper on the issue of fair rent for working families?

I did mention in this House that there is a business plan in process that will be underway after session concludes. That’s when we can start opening a discussion with the standing committee. I’m willing to meet with the standing committee and we will continue with our dialogue on how we can improve our program.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.