Protesters disrupt Ontario legislature over Bill 60 landlord and tenant law

Ontario’s legislature was at the centre of an angry uproar Monday.

About 40 protestors confronted Premier Doug Ford and his government over its new landlord and tenant law — calling Bill 60 an attack on renters across the province.

Protestors shouted “people over profits” and “evict Doug Ford” in the public gallery as the government held the final vote on the bill.

They brought the legislature to halt for a short time while security escorted them out.

Hamilton ACORN co-chair Marc Davignon says they were just told to stay away for the day because there were so many protestors.

“We were informed that under normal circumstances people who had disrupted the legislature as we had done, [we] would be given a ticket,” Davignon said.

The legislation called Bill 60 — Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act — contains a series of measures to streamline rental disputes.

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Among them, it would speed up Landlord and Tenant Board eviction hearings, shorten eviction processes for unpaid rent, and reduce compensation for renters being evicted.

The government says the bill will help ease the rental crisis, while critics say it means less protection for tenants.

Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West said in legislature that concerned citizens have been calling his office non-stop over the attack on renters.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles spoke to reporters outside of the legislature and expressed her frustration with the Ford government.

“All Doug Ford can be obsessed with is how we can attack more tenants,” Stiles said. “How we can make CEOs richer.”

Ford didn’t get into the debate, leaving it up to his ministers.

Housing Minister Rob Flack said the legislation deals with people that are the bad actors, bad landlords and bad tenants.

“The vast majority of Ontario renters live by the rules,” Flack said. “They pay their rent, they pay it on time. This is about bringing balance to the landlord and tenant board.”

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An organization of small landlords says the bill is a good first step toward protecting them from bad tenants.

Boubah Bah, with the Small Operator Landlords of Ontario, praised the bill saying this will be the first time in many years that there’s a bill that understands “small landlords are the bedrock of affordable housing.”

“The system is biased against small landlords and Bill 60 will be a good step in the right direction,” Bah said.

Opponents of the bill say it will create more homelessness and this fight isn’t over.

Amanda Dick, of Hamilton ACORN, says Bill 60 will mean more evictions.

“It’s going to make it harder for people to maintain their housing,” she said. “We’re going to see greater housing instability.”

Leading up to the bill passing in the legislature, one government proposal was to eliminate the current process of letting leases to become open-ended for tenants when the initial term is up, allowing landlords to evict them or raise the rent.

Critics say that was the most damaging part of the bill.

The government dropped that idea but protestors say they don’t think it’s gone away.

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