N.B. plan on housing crisis to come by June, while opponents say action needed now

New Brunswick's minister of social development says a plan to address the province's affordable housing crisis will be announced before next month, but his critics say action to address the issue is needed now.

Bruce Fitch says his government has been reviewing the 50-page report that civil servants recently released, which lays out challenges renters are currently facing, along with calling for "better protections against unreasonable rent increases."

"It was 90 days it's been given to government, and I've been tasked with the distinction of pulling the various departments that are impacted," said Fitch, speaking as part of the CBC Political Panel.

"It's a big body of work. And we're getting to work, and I hope to respond within the end of the month, by the end of the month on the go-forward from the government."

Speaking to reporters following the report's release, Executive Council clerk Cheryl Hansen said despite the report calling for better protection for tenants against unreasonable rent increases, it's not calling for "across the board" rent controls.

Speaking on the panel, Shediac Bay-Dieppe Liberal MLA Robert Gauvin criticized the report as not doing anything more than offering an overview of a problem that's already known to exist.

He said his party already has a solution, and it plans to introduce a bill in the legislature that would see the amount of any rent increase not exceed the percentage change in the consumer price index in New Brunswick.

"And if [landlords] want to raise the price after that, they can go and plead their case in that bill that we have," he said.

"And in this, we aren't reinventing the wheel. Here is something that works well in other provinces and should work well here in New Brunswick."

Green Leader David Coon also said the government needs to act immediately based on the findings of the report, adding he plans to have a second reading of his bill in the legislature next week, which calls for rent control.

He said his bill would ensure landlords can't raise rents more than once in a year, and "ensure that unacceptable rent increases do not occur by providing for a mechanism to control those rents while enabling landlords to apply for increases beyond that, if they can be justified to the residential tenancy folks."

Target the double tax, says Austin

Also speaking on the panel, People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he's against rent control, as he fears it could discourage developers from creating more housing.

"You've already got developers that are refusing to build affordable housing in New Brunswick because they can't make enough profit because of the double tax. So you add rent controls onto that, they're even less likely to build," he said.

Instead, he said he wants the government to eliminate the so-called "double tax," which levies a provincial tax on top of the municipal tax for buildings like rental properties and cottages.

"Developers aren't paying the double tax and landlords [aren't] paying the double tax. Tenants are paying for it because they're passing it on.

"But yet, in a 50-page review that was put forward here by government, the double tax got three lines out of a 50-page review. And you know, to me, it's just disingenuous because that is the real crux of the issue."