A call for the return of the recently expired rent cap in New Brunswick brought a crowd of demonstrators into the February cold, in front of the office of a Moncton MLA.
Members of the Moncton chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and a slew of concerned citizens and renters gathered on February 2 outside the office of Daniel Allain, the MLA for Moncton East.
The picketers stood united under one call to the government: “bring back the rent cap.”
What started as three people showing up at 1 p.m. grew to more than a dozen picketers within half an hour. Demonstrators brandished signs and called for action to fix a rental market that’s rapidly becoming unaffordable for New Brunswick renters.
Solidarity was found beyond the sidewalk too. Throughout the event, a steady stream of motorists passing by on Shediac Road showed their support and encouragement in a chorus of honking horns.
Last year, the province put a 3.8 per cent ceiling on how high landlords could increase rents but allowed the rent cap to expire at the start of 2023. That brought negative responses from tenants across the province who faced untenable jumps in their rents.
Darcy Wallace, one of the picketers and an ACORN member who helped plan the event, said they are zeroing in on the issue of the rent cap so ordinary people, seniors, working people, and the disabled have something predictable they can plan for when rent does increase.
“ACORN is asking for a three per cent rent cap, but the most important thing is to have a rent cap,” he said.
“I’m thrilled by the support and I think we’re on the right side of this issue, both strategically and morally,” Wallace added. He noted that they specifically decided to hold the event near Universite de Moncton, where a petition for a renewed rent cap garnered lots of support.
Wallace alluded to the far-reaching negative effects of lifting the rent cap by referring to former Beausejour-Petitcodiac MP Angela Vautour, who has gone on the record in coverage by CBC raising concerns about jumping rents that began within weeks of the cap being lifted – including her own.
“It’s a nice sunny day and we’ve got a big gang of people – core people, union people, and allies – and no sign of Mr. Allain’s people here so far. But it’s good, from my perspective,” said Robert MacKay, one of the picketers on the scene.
“We’ve got to get in and fight right on the street like this. On a personal level, I consider myself lucky in the situation I’m in, but anything could happen and if I get knocked out of my stable situation, I just think about some of the horror stories we’ve seen, with people’s rents going up 50 or 100 percent.”
The demonstration in Moncton was one of two that took place on Thursday; the other was in Fredericton at the constituency office of Fredericton North MLA Jill Green, who is also the Minister Responsible for Housing.
“It’s groundhog day today, so we have to question who is going to see their shadow. It’s a day when people are thinking about change and it’s one of the coldest days of the year, and we are at an outdoor event in February, competing against the weather,” Wallace said.
Thursday’s demonstration took place as the government announced that “work is advancing” on an affordable housing strategy. It promises that housing experts – including the New Brunswick Real Estate Association (NBREA) – will gather at events like a February 16 housing workshop and a housing summit planned in May to discuss issues, priorities, and solutions to the province’s housing crisis.
In the same announcement, Jamie Ryan, the CEO of the NBREA, was quoted saying “Problems of affordability and availability are not unique to our province but we believe that solutions we create must be uniquely ours.”
Last month, the province introduced a housing website and one-on-one housing navigator support staff in a bid to help residents find information on housing.
Sam Macdonald is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
