Bill 109:
Residential Tenancies Act Hearings will
be held
Only in
Toronto
May 19, 2006
|
Hearings on the new Residential Tenancies Act will be held only in Toronto on May 29, 31 and June 5th. Tenants in other Ontario cities will have to travel to Toronto or submit a written submission to the Committee.
Information below came from the Ontario Legislature web site. I have heard that hearings will wrap up by June 8th and the Bill can then proceed to Third and final reading.
Source: David Dimitrie, Kipps
Lane Tenants Association, Legal Help for Tenants, Contact Info and More
Notice of Public Hearings:
Bill 109, Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (Bill 109 background & resources)
The Standing Committee on General Government will meet to consider Bill 109, An Act to revise the law governing residential tenancies.The Committee intends to hold public hearings in Toronto on May 29 and 31, and June 5, 2006.
Interested people who wish to be considered to make an oral presentation on Bill 109 should contact the Committee Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 2006.
Those who do not wish to make an oral presentation but who are interested in commenting on the Bill may send written submissions to the Committee Clerk at the address below by 12:00 noon on Monday, June 5, 2006.
Linda Jeffrey, MPP
Chair: Susan Sourial
Clerk:Room 1405, Whitney Block/Bureau 1405, Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M7A 1A2
Telephone: (416) 325-7352
Facsimile/Télécopieur: (416) 325-3505
TTY/ATS: (416) 325-3538
Collect calls will be accepted.
Bill
109:
Will the Legislative Committee for
Bill 109
travel outside the GTA?
May 15, 2006
The New Residential Tenancies Act is well into Second Reading and the government has given no indication as to whether Committee hearings will be held throughout the province or only be held in Toronto.
Issues surrounding the Tenant Protection Act and the Housing Tribunal are finally being addressed in Bill 109, The Residential Tenancies Act. It is vital that all groups that wish to give a presentation to the Committee have the chance to do so.
This Bill could be rushed through committee and passed by June 22nd when the Legislature rises for the summer.
Below is a copy of an email that David Dimitrie of the Kipps Lane Tenants Association (London) sent to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, John Gerretson.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Dimitrie
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 11:33 PM
To: MPP Gerretsen_John-MPP; MPP Leader NDP Howard Hampton; MPP Premier
Dalton McGuinty; MPP R Marchese
Cc: MPP Khamil Ramal; MPP Bentley_Chris-MPP-CO; MPP - john.tory@pc.ola.org;
MPP-CO Deb Matthews; MPPs office Lessa Regan; (mlumgair@chs.ca)
Subject: Will the Legislative Committee for Bill 109 travel outside the
GTA?
May 14, 2006
I have been carefully following the passage of Bill 109 through the legislature
through Hansard. I have read the entire statements from members of all
parties in this debate. Bill 109 has already been debated on two separate
dates during Second Reading and the McGuinty government has not promised
tenants that the Committee will travel outside the GTA. As you well tenants
make up from thirty to forty percent of all residences in the Province.
It would be grossly unfair to only hold hearings in the GTA.
I ask the following questions:
- Will the MAH Minister
guarantee that the Committee will listen to all tenants in Ontario by
holding hearings across the Province?
- Will Committee
Hearings be fully accessible as per the ODA and AODA. Hearings for these
two pieces of legislation traveled throughout Ontario and the governments
of the day strived to make them accessible to disabled persons. Disabled
persons represent a large segment of the rental housing population in
Ontario.
- Tenants in Ontario
deserve a direct answer to these questions immediately. I am well aware
that the Committee which holds these hearings is made up of all three
parties. They all will have a say in whether they are accessible and
available to tenants across Ontario. Nonetheless the Government should
take a leadership in role and announce immediately that full and accessible
hearings will be held throughout the Province on Bill 109.
- Tenants need to know the answers to these questions now so we can prepare our presentations. Most tenants cannot afford an expensive trip to Queens Park to make a presentation. Even if they could, there would be few time slots available since tenants in the GTA will also want to be heard.
I will be posting
this message on the Kipps Lane Tenants Association web site and sharing
it with other tenants groups who are stakeholders in this process. Tenants
waited long past the Liberals original promise for this legislation to
be tabled. There is no need for it to be rushed through the Legislature
without giving tenants across Ontario the chance to have their say.
I look forward to a quick response from the Minister on this issue.
Sincerely,
David Dimitrie
Leader – Kipps Lane Tenants Association (London)
Kipps Lane
Tenants Association, Legal Help for Tenants, Contact Info and More
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