BC Housing Minister Rich Coleman has rejected the City of Vancouver’s requests to increase renter protections through the period leading up to and during the Winter Olympics.

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NEWS: Province says no to renter protections during Games

The City of Vancouver’s requests to increase legislative protection for tenants of rental apartments during the 2010 Winter Olympics have been denied. In a June 10 letter to Mayor Gregor Robertson, BC Housing Minister Rich Coleman wrote that he deemed it unnecessary to amend the Residential Tenancy Act during the Games. Coleman also wrote that expanding Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) services in Vancouver during Games time would be unnecessary, despite the City’s requests that came before council in an April 9 motion.

Mayor Robertson sent a letter on behalf of council to Minister Coleman on April 28, which outlined the City’s requests that the Province temporarily amend Residential Tenancy legislation and increase tenant outreach service, in the interest of protecting renters and preventing evictions during the months leading up to and following the Games.

“Affecting the rights of property owners in the manner suggested may also be seen as unfair to those property owners,” Minister Coleman wrote in the letter justifying his refusal to amend the Residential Tenancy Act to prohibit Olympic evictions, as per council’s suggestion. “In a time where housing is scarce and private landlords are providing a valuable housing alternative, it is important to encourage them rather than to discourage them.”

Whether “housing alternative” is an accurate choice of words is a moot point, however, given that, according to 2001 Statistics Canada census data, more than half of households in central areas of Vancouver are rentals. (Minister Coleman did not return WE’s phone calls by press time.)

“[Coleman] is reflecting a kind of amnesia related to the impacts of these large mega-events that have been documented for decades,” says Am Johal, chair of Olympic Watchdog Group Impact on Communities Coalition, who considers the preliminary efforts by the City to protect renters to be minimal requests. “The City of Vancouver, by putting forward a weak public policy framework without consultation, is putting at least 1,000 renters at risk leading up to 2010.”

While the City has enacted a temporary accommodation bylaw for homeowners interested in renting out a part of their home during the Games — thus, ideally, protecting the interests of both landlords and tenants — Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer Herbert does not expect it to have much of an impact. “The homeowners I’ve talked to have laughed about the City’s registry,” he says. “A few good-hearted citizens will follow through on that, but the City really has no enforcement mechanisms... They’re trying to ensure people are not made homeless by the Games, but without the Province or the federal government having that same commitment, it’s pretty tough.”

City councillor Ellen Woodsworth sees Coleman’s letter as a betrayal to the people who voted in the recent provincial election. “All of these things are coming down from the Province just after a provincial election, when it looked like the Province wanted to work with the City to address the homeless and housing crisis,” she says. “West End residents have really let the rest of the city know the dangers that exist with not having a strong Residential Tenancy body in the city, and not having strong legislation that protects renters at a time of major events like the Olympics.”

The City has yet to hire a tenant assistance worker, which was expected to be done this spring, with the position remaining active through the Olympic period. The City put aside $40,000 in funding for the position.

At a press conference on June 29, Mayor Robertson told reporters that the City has been working to try to mitigate evictions. “We’re taking a number of steps, proactively, with the City, and we’re working with the Province to focus on whether there are problems with the Residential Tenancy Act that will manifest during the Olympics,” he said.