Burnaby’s tenant assistance policy to be used as a model in New Westminster – but some tenants would like a Burnaby But Better plan developed.
New Westminster plans to take action to better support tenants who may be displaced from their homes.
Nakagawa noted that some Burnaby tenants had recently returned to a building that replaced their former home. She said Burnaby introduced its tenant protections “after the horse had already left the barn” – a time when many tenants in the Metrotown neighbourhood were forced out of their homes by redevelopment.
“The best-case scenario is that tenants are not displaced in the first place,” she said. “The next best is … that they can return at the same rate under which they left.” Dustin Godfrey, a renter and a volunteer organizer with the New West Tenants Union, spoke of the need for a robust tenant protection policy in New Westminster.
“Similarly, if you're concerned about things like public drug use or street disorder, I think you really need to support a measure that would prevent more and more renters being pushed into situations where they really have no other options.” New West resident Dave Sadoway is an instructor at Kwantlen Polytech University, where he teaches urban geography and urban planning. While it is important to have housing near transit – particularly rentals, public housing, and non-profit housing – he’s concerned the province is not fully aware of some of the “unintended consequences” that may result from its housing legislation.
He said financial aid currently available to post-secondary students who are living away from home provides $997 for shelter, $320 for food, $392 for miscellaneous, and $123 for local transportation – in a city where the average rent in April was $2,322 for a one-bedroom unit was $2,322 and $2,920 for a two-bedroom apartment.While council unanimously approved the motion presented by Nakagawa and Campbell, Coun. Daniel Fontaine expressed concerns about some aspects of the motion.
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