Tenants’ rights activists were protesting in Quebec City Monday, arguing the province’s rental board gives landlords preferential treatment.
“As a housing committee we see a lot of people, tenants, coming to our organization every day having a lot of problems with the rental board,” said Olivier Prud'homme-Richard of POPIR - Comité Logement, one of the housing groups demanding government action.
Protesters came from across Quebec for the demonstration, including representatives from Project Genesis, a community organization working with low-income families in Montreal.
“A lot of people complain about the landlords not doing what they're supposed to do, but as soon as the month begins, they're there for the rent. But ask them to do something for the building? They're not there,” said Candy Barnes of Project Genesis.
The protesters said they believe there's a two-tiered system in place at the Quebec rental board favouring landlords.
“If a tenant doesn't pay his rent fast enough, the landlord can sue him and it goes really fast. On the other side, if a tenant has problems has health issues in the apartment, it can take months, maybe years before the case is heard at the rental board,” said Maxime Roy-Allard of RCLALQ.
Tenants-rights advocates say the rental board needs more funding to deal with the excessive delays and they're calling on Municipal Affairs Minister Martin Coiteux to take action.
“The budget is not enough. The rental board should have way more money to hire more judges,” said Roy-Allard.
A spokesperson for Coiteux told CTV News in a statement that the board is facing "modernization challenges," but is working on solutions to improve its efficiency while maintaining a balance between the rights of tenants and landlords.
On Wednesday, a National Assembly committee will be studying figures based on last month's budget to determine how much money the rental board will be receiving.
