Fall sitting sees update of 30-year-old tenancy law in P.E.I.

After 18 days of debate, the fall sitting of the P.E.I. legislature came to a close Thursday.

Among the 21 bills to receive royal assent from Lt.-Gov. Antoinette Perry was the Residential Tenancy Act, a rewrite of the province's 30-year-old law governing residential rentals in the province.

Work on the law was begun under the previous Liberal government of Wade MacLauchlan.

The final version of the bill included amendments put forward by both opposition parties, some of which were incorporated into government's draft of the bill before it was tabled, others which were incorporated during debate.

Rent increases capped at 3%

The law will cap the maximum allowable rental increase in the province at three per cent per year, with a further three per cent cap for landlords who apply for a larger increase through the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.

An amendment from the Green Party extended a moratorium on evictions for renovations into 2023, while a Liberal amendment to the bill will allow tenants to break a lease agreement if they're victims of racism, after filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

A Green amendment which would have made it illegal for landlords to ban pets in their units was defeated.

On the day the bill was passed, Nov. 25, Minister of Social Development and Housing Matthew MacKay said work would begin "immediately" on regulations required to be drafted before the new law can be brought into force.

"There'll be some consultations done with some of the regulations, so that will take a bit of time… early spring it should be ready," said MacKay.

Law to freeze 2023 rent increases now in effect

Another housing bill tabled by MacKay, setting the maximum allowable rent increase for 2023 at zero per cent, came into effect on receiving royal assent from the lieutenant-governor on Thursday.

That bill overrides a ruling from the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission setting the maximum allowable rent increase for 2023 as high as 10.8 per cent for units that include oil heat, 5.2 per cent otherwise.

MacKay promised a funding package to compensate landlords for the change, but no details were released during the sitting. MacKay said Thursday the package was awaiting approval from the province's Treasury Board, of which he is a member. 

Doctor bill pulled over rural concerns

A bill to remove doctor complements in the province along with the committee that oversees them drew condemnation from both opposition parties without ever being called for debate.

Health Minister Ernie Hudson said on Tuesday he would bring the bill back for the spring sitting with changes, acknowledging concerns over how removing doctor complements could affect rural health care.

Meanwhile, a bill from the Green Party to provide 10 paid sick days for Island workers was defeated without drawing a single vote of support from the PCs or the Liberals.

Minister of Economic Growth Bloyce Thompson raised concerns about the cost to Island businesses, and said he hoped to bring legislation forward in the fall of 2023 to expand paid sick leave requirements, based on a review of the Employment Standards Act currently underway.

The King government passed the largest capital budget ever brought forward in the P.E.I. Legislature, with the province committing to spend $308 million in the next fiscal year on roads, bridges, schools and housing.

All eight Green MLAs and two Liberals voted against the capital budget.

Opposition leader Peter Bevan-Baker said the province needed to take steps in 2019 to mitigate the current housing crisis. And he said the commitment in the new capital budget to spend $100 million over the next five years on public housing still falls short.

"Finally, in the fourth year of their mandate they're coming forward, they're coming forward with what is not sufficient investment in housing — but it's not a dollar, millions of dollars short actually, and four years late."

Election sometime in 2023

This was the eighth sitting for MLAs since the 2019 election, with the province's Election Act stipulating the next vote will be held Oct. 2, 2023.

But recently Premier Dennis King has begun walking back previous commitments to stick to the fixed date for the next election, saying events could change his mind.

"We've been through two hurricanes, a malware attack, potato wart, COVID-19. I don't like to talk in definitive terms when it comes to what the future will look like," King said.

"We're on the precipice of a difficult winter. That's been my focus. We'll be ready for an election in 2023 and everyone should expect the unexpected after what we've been through for the last three-and-a-half years."

Both opposition parties made the case on Thursday that the King government is nearing the end of its mandate with not much to show for it.

"The Premier and his cabinet spent the last month in the Legislature showing they have no plan for governing," said the leader of the Third Party Liberal MLA Sonny Gallant in a news release.

"Islanders are experiencing serious problems and challenges, but the best that this gift card government can come up with is shelling out Denny Dollars as band-aid solutions while sitting on a $83.8-million surplus," Gallant was quoted in the release, referring to a surprise surplus from the previous fiscal year announced on Oct. 31.

The government did not table a fall fiscal update during the sitting. When asked Thursday, Finance Minister Mark McLane said an update would be provided "in the next coming days."

He also told the house whatever surplus government might be carrying in the current fiscal year will have been eaten away "by a lot of spending, obviously, in the last few months with Fiona and inflationary supports."