Let us be very clear; New Brunswick has the worst rental regulations in the country.
With a yearly inflation rate of 5.5%, and rent increases that far exceed this rate, we know that New Brunswickers can’t afford the Conservative plan for affordable housing. New Brunswick needs a people first approach to housing.
It is unacceptable that seniors need to take to the streets to protest exorbitant rent increases in the very homes that raised generations of young New Brunswickers.
It is unacceptable that those generations of young people will pay thousands in rental profits to predatory landlords buying up all the homes in our province yet they’ll never be able to afford a home of their own.
Telegraph Journal; one of the media machines for the wealthy of this province have been trying to convince us all that the only way out is to cut taxes for those who are buying up all the land and rental properties in the province.
Their key solution is to “work with developers” on creating more housing.
Let’s read between the lines. What they mean is giving more free money and tax breaks to the rich and hope that those benefits will trickle down to the rest of us.
This is the strategy that got us into this mess, and it certainly isn’t the way out.
We’ve studied the recommendations from ACORN and the Tenants Rights Coalition of New Brunswick and their plans to make sure renters can live with dignity.
Stay tuned for important updates as we roll out the New Brunswick NDP plan for people first housing.
The choice is clear, either we can make a stand and say that enough is enough, or we can descend into oligarchy.
Mackenzie Thomason
NB NDP Leader