Yukon Liberals not protecting Yukon renters from no-cause evictions

August 26, 2022

Whitehorse, YT — The Yukon NDP is calling on the Liberal government to ban evictions-without-cause after eviction notices again went out to an entire apartment building.

This is the third apartment building in downtown Whitehorse to be mass-evicted without cause.

“This is an appalling example of how this government is failing to protect tenants. The government seems happy to let evictions happen, over and over again. At every step of the way, the Liberals have chosen to leave tenants vulnerable in the middle of a housing crisis,” Whitehorse Centre MLA Emily Tredger said Friday, Aug. 26.

Evictions-without-cause are banned in the rest of Canada, except for Newfoundland.

Landlords must justify evictions in every other jurisdiction in the country.

This is a basic protection for tenants, and it doesn’t exist in the Yukon. As a result, people like Darlene Pollard and Richard Lawrence have lost their homes and are now struggling to find housing. 

“There are some things where laws are required to make things fair. The government is the one who has the power to change the law. It’s too late for us, but we want to speak on behalf of people in the future – nobody should have to face this situation,” Lawrence, a tenant for 10 years before he was evicted without cause, said.

People on fixed incomes, and especially seniors, are being pushed out of the rental market. Summer is ending, and they’re getting increasingly desperate to find a home.

“I have lived in this current apartment building for twenty years and referred to it as my home. I was served with a 2-month eviction notice. Two months to pack up 20 years of my life and leave, with no reason given. The lack of protection has left me in a precarious position of wondering what my future holds for me: When will I be able to find affordable housing?” Pollard, another long-term tenant who was served an eviction notice this month, asked.

The Liberal Government could ban evictions-without-cause today. For every day they allow this brutal practice to continue, seniors, families, and other vulnerable Yukoners face eviction for literally no reason.

This has to end.

The Yukon NDP is once again calling on the Liberal Government to do the right thing.

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