Public consultation on rental legislation leaves Whitehorse tenants frustrated

The Yukon government is soliciting input from residents to update the territory's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act — but some tenants who attended a public consultation meeting in Whitehorse this week say they left feeling unheard.

One participant, who did not want to give his full name to CBC News out of concern for reprisal from future landlords, called it "the worst public engagement I 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 was among several tenants that attended the 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 says the conversation around updating the Act has shone a light on power dynamics in the territory's tight rental market, highlighting how tenants feel wary of vocalizing opinions that might prevent them from accessing housing.

The public consultation didn't seem to consider the 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.

"I work 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 updated Act. 

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 allow voices 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 were tasked to come up with ideas for possible amendments to the Act. The government hopes to table a bill to amend the Act by 2025.

The advisory group put out a report in November.

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 are leaving the market because they can't control rent while expenses are increasing.

However, Solutions Lab admits that 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 with 16 realtors.

"We need landlords to 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's Residential Tenancies Office, said the ideas included in the Solutions Lab are only suggestions, and the next step in the process is to hear 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 of Solutions 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," Slat said.

"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.