Action Needed to Protect Families Facing Eviction and Skyrocketing Rents
- NL NDP
- May 21
- 2 min read
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2025
NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) called out government today in the House of Assembly for not truly understanding the realities renters are facing in the private market. Dinn says students, seniors, and families continue to struggle to deal with unaffordable rent increases and predatory corporate landlords.
Dinn spoke about a constituent, a single mother of five children, who is facing a no-fault eviction for July 1. He says that NL Housing (NLHC) would offer support if she found a place to rent, but says rent prices are so high that the support would not be enough.
“Yesterday the Minister of Housing said that government’s role is to make sure seniors, and other low-income families have a place to call home. Pretty words,” Dinn said. “The prices of the 15 properties she has viewed so far range in price from $2,400 a month and up. I ask the Minister what steps will he take to ensure this mother and her five children have a place to live on July 1?”
Dinn called out government for not having the political will to implement rental controls, something that Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) says would stop “abusive rent increases.”
“The Canada Housing Benefit and financial support are thoroughly inadequate and have not kept pace with market rental increases,” said Dinn. “Since the Minister lacks the political backbone to implement rent and vacancy controls on large, financialized landlords, will he demand increases to the Canada Housing Benefit and increase provincial supports to offset the high rents people are experiencing?”
Dinn says that government is out of touch with the reality facing renters, especially when it comes to those on fixed incomes.
“Government should be doing everything possible to ensure people can afford housing—it's that simple,” Dinn said. “Instead, the Minister of Housing claims the private market is working, even as seniors face steep rent hikes and worry about where they’ll go if they can’t keep up. This is not a government who understands what people are going through.”
-30-
For further information, contact Stephanie Curran, Media and Communications Officer, NDP Caucus at 330-0328 (o), or stephaniecurran@gov.nl.ca
Hozzászólások