Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about environmental health concerns in rental housing and the role of government in holding landlords accountable.
Mr. Speaker, this House has heard numerous times about how too many of our constituents are facing appalling living conditions.
In October, my colleague from Tu NedheWiilideh brought up cockroach infestations in his communities. He talked about a family brought to tears when they couldn't cook Thanksgiving dinner because of cockroaches.
In November, my colleague from Great Slave brought up issues at Lanky Court, including horrific cockroach infestations and tenants forced to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket to deal with mold issues.
And in February, my colleague from Frame Lake brought up Lanky Court again, with young children being plagued by bed bugs, mold so bad it caused breathing problems, and more cockroach infestations. Some tenants were forced to move, again with huge outofpocket costs.
Mr. Speaker, it's shameful we allow people to be treated this way. In all these instances, there's a common thread: Tenants experience unacceptable conditions but are left with no way of holding landlords accountable. Tenants are left to live in an unhealthy environment or fix the problem at their own expense or move but, with zero vacancy, most people need to accept the unacceptable.
Mr. Speaker, the current approach to landlord accountability is broken. According to the rental officer’s annual report, last year only three tenants were successful in getting an order against a landlord to fix their unit. Meanwhile, at least 700 units have mold or pest problems at last count. While the rental officer gets many inquiries about rental premises that are not fit for habitation, she says very few tenants follow through with the complaints process likely due to the amount of work. Tenants need accessible tools to ensure landlords comply with the law and provide healthy safe housing.
Other Canadian jurisdictions are making accountability accessible. Saskatchewan offers tenants an online complaint form to get an environmental health officer to investigate, and BC fines landlords that refuse to complete health and safety repairs. I am not looking to drive away development, Mr. Speaker; I'm calling on the government to adopt best practices and fill the accountability gap. Residents have a right to clean, healthy, safe housing and, when that right is denied, to have meaningful accessible mechanisms to fix that problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
