Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use my statement much in the same manner as MLA Bisaro has just done. I’m going to use it to paint a bit of a narrative, a story, because we have a situation here where cars appear to be more important than people. Cars appear to be more important than safe access that’s lawfully written into the law. It’s a story about cars and where safety of women is certainly being overlooked. Cars seem to be more important.
This ongoing dispute between the UNW and its tenants seems a bit of a shame. You’ve seen the widely spread media reports, some of course very interesting, others very scary. The fact is, what we’re seeing is nothing happen other than frustration by the tenants who even in one case actually had to take the law in their own lands, who may become a victim of the law not being enforced.
We have a situation here where powers cannot be enforced. They’re being fettered by process, process without follow-up and enforcement. We have tenants who have safety concerns. We all knew the UNW has long since been a champion and has a productive legacy for fighting for the rights of others, for what is good, what is fair. I cannot understand myself why are they putting all that great history and legacy behind without building a partnership with their tenants over what really lies down to is safe access. Yet again, cars are being chosen over people.
The whole purpose, as my colleague has just said, of the rental office is about keeping disputes out of the courts. It’s about a productive way to work between tenants and landlords. It’s about ways that we can make things simple. The rental office and, certainly, their act really comes down to no teeth. I’m not saying they couldn’t write an enforcement order. It’s more an issue, in my view, that they can’t enforce it, and that’s a bit of the problem. We see going back and forth; we agree, we disagree, we agree, we disagree, and yet the landlord flirts with compliance but yet stalls even further.
How much longer will cars continue to be more important than the safety of women? I don’t stand for what they stand for, thinking that cars are better than women. I think we should be fighting for the rights of safe access for these tenants and ask ourselves what is missing here in this Rental Tenancies Act. Quite simply, it’s about the authority of ensuring that enforcement compliance does happen.
Later today I will be asking the Minister questions in this regard and asking him where does he stand. Does he support safe cars or safe people? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
