Jagmeet Singh: lower rent by cutting corporate welfare for bad corporate landlords

TORONTO—Canada’s NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is demanding the end of federal dollars flowing to corporate landlords that gouge Canadians on their rent.

Singh delivered the call Monday after visiting three apartment buildings in York South-Weston where tenants have been subjected to out-of-control rent hikes despite crumbling conditions like closed balconies, and mouse and cockroach infestations so bad that Canada Post refuses to enter one of the buildings. Tenants at 33 King St., 22 John St. and 1440-1442 Lawrence Ave. West have been on a rent strike against Dream Unlimited and Barney River Investments.

“Imagine living in a building that’s infested and crumbling, and getting yet another notice for a rip-off rent increase from a corporate landlord who refuses to make much-needed repairs,” said Singh. “Under Justin Trudeau, average rent has increased by 100 per cent. Families are being squeezed, people can’t afford to move out of rat-trap apartments and working folks who do everything right still can’t get ahead.

“It’s not their fault. The housing system is rigged. For a generation, Liberals and Conservatives have stacked the deck by designing the system for rich investors and big corporate landlords. This free ride for bad landlords needs to end. No more government money to rich corporate landlords ripping off Canadians.”

The federal government provides a suite of funds to big corporate landlords including low-interest loans, preferential tax treatment and mortgage loan insurance. Singh is calling for all those measures to stop in the case of big corporate landlords that gouge, rake in excessive profits or fail to provide decent homes for their tenants.

Trudeau broke his own 2021 platform promise to stop renovictions and deter unfair rent increases, and went back on his claim that he’d stop the preferential tax treatment and excessive profits for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Instead, he’s allowed 370,000 affordable homes to be sold off to rich developers.

Singh said that while Trudeau helped build a system where corporate landlords get richer and people pay more, Pierre Poilievre would pour gasoline on the fire. Poilievre’s chief advisor Jenni Byrne is a lobbyist that works for real estate investment firms and developers, and real estate developer executives make up much of Poilievre’s top-donors list.

“Justin Trudeau promised to make things better, but he made them much worse. And Pierre Poilievre wants even fewer rules for corporate landlords, so they can take unlimited advantage of tenants,” said Singh. “It’s time to tip the scales in people’s favour, for once. New Democrats will change the rules to lower rents.”