TIME TO RECONSIDER RENT CONTROLS

People are beginning to see large increases in rent by some landlords in Halifax. This is especially devastating to persons on low income and fixed incomes. Shane O’Dell writing in the Chronicle Herald on January 12, 2013 quoted the monthly rent for a two bedroom apartment as $145 higher than a similar one in Montreal which has rent control (CMHC statistics). The concern is that with rent controls, landlords will refuse to build more rental units and will go to areas of the country where they are free to set their own rents based on the market. Without rent controls the market will set the going rents and the fear is that when the community experiences a boom time in the economy, as might occur with the proposed ship contract between the federal government and the Halifax Shipyards, large increases in rents will be the norm. According to Mr. O’Dell’s article, Nova Scotia had rent control at one time but it was removed in 1993 and the Minister of the day promised, “If we find one landlord taking advantage of the tenants of this province, we will reactivate the rent review program immediately.” See Mr. O’Dell’s article at: http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/415437-rent-control-empowers-citizens-on-limited-incomes#disqus_thread

NOVA SCOTIA SHOWS UP IN THE ECONOMIST

The Economist Newspaper (magazine) is the weekly ‘go to’ publication that the business community and others have been reading for 170 years since it was first published in 1843. The publication promotes the idea that social reform and the economy are closely tied together and contains articles from countries around the world on business, finance and economics, science and technology, education, religion, culture, social unrest, democracy and other topics.  It was interesting to see an article on Nova Scotia which would lead one to believe that important things have been happening that have captured the attention of the editors. The writer recites the many projects that are on the drawing boards and points out that these could spell success, lead the province to prosperity and a needed change in the province’s demographics. The hope is that young people will no longer need to consider moving out of the province in order to find employment. Nova Scotia is considered a “have-not” province and depends on transfer payments from the federal government in order to pay for public services and goods. If workers can find employment here they will stay and raise their families and contribute to the economy. Read the article and other interesting ones at: http://www.economist.com/search/apachesolr_search/A%20New%20Nova%20Scotia