Public consultation on rental legislation leaves Whitehorse tenants frustrated

The Yukon government is soliciting input from residentstoupdatethe territory's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act but some tenantswho attended a public consultation meeting in Whitehorsethis weeksay they left feeling unheard.

One participant, who did not want to give his full name to CBC Newsout of concern for reprisal from future landlords, called it "the worst public engagementI have ever had the misfortune of being a part of."

"It was token engagement that didn't get to the root of the issues, doesn't provide any opportunity for follow up, didn't provide ample opportunity to ask questions or express concerns," the participant, Lee, told CBC News.

Lee wasamong several tenants that attendedthe Whitehorse consultation on Tuesday evening but declined to give their full names to CBC News, saying they were concerned that landlords wouldn't rent to them after speaking out.

Lee saysthe conversation around updatingthe Act has shone a light on power dynamics in the territory's tight rental market,highlighting how tenantsfeel wary ofvocalizing opinions that might prevent them fromaccessing housing.

The public consultation didn't seem to considerthe reality of many renters, Lee said.

"They kept identifying things purely in the extremes, where it's either a doctor making over 100K coming to the Yukon, or somebody who is on social assistance," he said.

"Iwork a really good job, my wife works a very good job ...we don't eat out, we aren't frivolous, we don't go on vacations ...our rents takes up so much of our budget every month."

Lee feels that landlords have so far had the upper hand, in discussing changes to the legislation.

He's not the only one to suggest an imbalance. Several other participants at the Whitehorse meeting pointed out throughout the evening that the conversation largely focused on landlords, and how they could benefit from the updatedAct.

One participant, who identified herself to CBC News only as Abigail, also felt frustrated at how the consultation was structured.

"The structure was not to allowvoices to be heard ... but rather it was to promote solutions and problems that have already been made, which weren't based on data," she said.

Reviewing the act

The territorial government launched its review of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act last year, with what it called a "Solutions Lab" an advisory group consisting of 11 Yukoners,including landlords and housing advocates, who weretasked to come up with ideas for possible amendments to theAct. The government hopes to table a bill to amend the Act by2025.

The advisory group put out a reportinNovember.

One idea explained in the report is to offer landlords more flexibility in lease agreements and setting rental prices. The report suggests that some landlords areleaving the market becausethey can't control rent while expenses are increasing.

However, Solutions Lab admitsthat there's no data to back this, only anecdotal evidence.

"Over the past three years, I've noticed a huge shift in people selling rental properties," said James Lopushinsky, a realtor who was part of the Solutions Lab advisory group. He says he owns a company with16 realtors.

"We need landlordsto have supply, tenants want to have good pricing ...if landlords cannot afford it, there will be no landlords. So it's a tough balance to strike."

Karyn Leslie, the director of Yukon'sResidential Tenancies Office, saidthe ideas included in the Solutions Lab are only suggestions, and the next step in the process istohear from the public.

"One of the ways that we are hoping to achieve that is by offering multiple ways to participate to try to appeal to and accommodate as many different people as possible," Leslie said.

"And so we want to hear from absolutely everybody."

Heidi Slat, with the advocacy group Safe at Home, was at Tuesday's consultation in Whitehorse and she welcomed the initiative. However, she was concerned about the lack of diversity among the participants ofSolutions Lab, and among those who attended the Whitehorse meeting.

"I asked the question,'who is a tenant, and who is a landlord?'And it seems heavily loaded in landlords," Slatsaid.

"I'm hearing 'landlords, landlords, landlords' ...We need to hear also the tenants' side."

More consultations are planned in Watson Lake on Feb. 12, Dawson City on Feb.15, and another in Whitehorse, in French, on Feb. 19.