Controversial legislation affecting tenants and landlords is making its way through the Legislative Assembly, but opposition parties are crying foul over time limits imposed on debate.
Discussions became heated Wednesday as Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton sparred with Jill Green, minister of Service NB and minister responsible for housing.
“The Minister of Housing has finally admitted that she won't protect tenants by keeping the rent cap in place in the New Year,” Mitton said during Question Period on Wednesday. “Tenants are terrified of losing their housing if they haven't already... how can the Minister of Housing justify denying renters the protection of a rent cap next year?"
Green, who took over the contentious housing portfolio in October, defended her government’s record and called Mitton’s remarks “inflammatory.”
“When I listen to the language that is used and the inflammatory way the question is asked, it doesn't even make me want to answer her question,” Green said.
Mitton replied: "I do not appreciate the tone policing when I'm talking about people losing their housing."
Last month, Green introduced Bill 25, An Act Respecting Residential Tenancies. Instead of extending rent control, the bill would create a “phase-in” mechanism for rent increases.
If a rent hike exceeded the Consumer Price Index, the Residential Tenancies Tribunal could choose to phase in the increase over the course of up to three years.
The system is complaint-driven, meaning tenants would have to formally complain to the tribunal before it would consider using the phase-in mechanism.
“We are doing everything we can to protect tenants and make it a balanced approach for landlords as well,” Green said on Wednesday.
But renters rights advocates have denounced the legislation, demanding a rent cap that would limit rent hikes at two per cent annually. Advocates have noted examples of rent hikes that have exceeded 50 per cent amid the COVID-19 crisis and a widespread affordable housing shortage.
"I'm already getting stories, people with 25 per cent, 75 per cent, 100 per cent rent increases coming down the line and they don't know what to do," Mitton said on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, the province introduced a temporary 3.8 per cent rent cap in response to public pressure, but that provision is scheduled to expire at the end of this month.
On Wednesday, Bill 25 passed second reading in Premier Blaine Higgs’ majority-controlled legislature, and it is now slated for discussion at the Standing Committee on Economic Policy.
The Higgs government has pushed for a quick passage of the legislation, limiting the time allocated to debate several bills ahead of a planned Dec. 16 adjournment of the Legislative Assembly.
When Carleton-York Tory MLA Richard Ames introduced the time-limiting motion on Tuesday, it was immediately challenged by Campbellton-Dalhousie Liberal MLA Guy Arseneault.
He noted that Ames chairs the Standing Committee on Economic Policy. “For him to make a closure motion, a time allocation motion, is unethical as chair," Arseneault said. "It means they don’t want to listen to the arguments in committee, they don’t want to work."
The Green Party issued a statement on Thursday saying the limit on debate was “undemocratic and runs roughshod over the authority of the Legislative Assembly.”
For the record, here’s the exchange between Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton and Service NB Minister Jill Green. You can see the watch the full proceedings on the Legislative Assembly's official website: