Short-term solution, long-term consequences

Manitoba and Prince Edward Island both have zero per cent rent caps this year. In British Columbia, the maximum rent increase for this year is two per cent. Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador also don't have rent control policies. In Alberta, landlords can raise rent only once a year, and they must give three months notice before increasing the price, but there's no rent control policy. Members of ACORN delivered a letter to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service office, requesting a meeting to talk about rent control. 'I'm furious that this hasn't been addressed.' 'We've seen in the last few years rental increases going up and homelessness going up in this city, and it is absolutely infuriating that we seem not to understand the connection there,' said Wlodarczyk. That's according to Maggy Wlodarczyk, another member of ACORN. They also want all political parties to include rent control on their platforms ahead of the provincial election in May. Calling for a 2% rent cap, rental registryĪCORN wants the Alberta government to legislate a two-per-cent rent cap and a rental registry listing the price of every rental unit in the province. It functions like a court to resolve landlord-tenant disputes. The agency is a quasi-judicial tribunal run by the province. Over a dozen Calgarians from the group gathered at the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service office on Wednesday to deliver a letter to its director, demanding rent control from the province. It's a nationwide union for low- and middle-income renters that has opened a new branch in Calgary. It's part of why she joined ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). 'The rent is increasing dramatically, and it's making it harder for us low-income people, for the seniors, for people on disability.… It's getting very hard, even on people's mental health.' 'The first thing that went through my head was, 'Where am I going to get my son's lunches?'' said Badger, who moved to Calgary four decades ago from Sturgeon Lake, Alta. She gets $1,500 a month from Alberta Works. She learned in February that her rent will soon go up $200 - to $1,200 a month.

With her latest rent increase, Vanessa Badger has only $300 left in her monthly budget for her family of three to live on.

Badger Island by Jonathan Guy