| Karen Lambert says it was "a cold feeling" when she got the notice that her rent was going to be jacked up to $2,000 from $550 a month at her Mission apartment where she’s lived for the past 15 years.
She works seven days a week cleaning buildings and can’t afford the increase, which will come into effect on November 1.
"I’m kind of a little bit bitter," she says. "People shouldn’t be able to get away with that."
She and her fiancé have been looking around for another place to live and they’re getting nervous because everything available is out of their price range.
"There’s places out there, but the thing is they’re way beyond our (means) right now," she says. "It’s hard knowing you’re not going to have a place. I’ve never wanted to go out on the streets."
It’s stories like this one that have mobilized the Calgary activist community to start up Calgary Housing Action Initiative to try and address the housing crisis. The coalition held its first meeting on August 15 at the Arusha Centre.
Amanda Gryba is one of the organizers of the coalition. She decided to get active on the issue after her landlord hiked the rent in the rundown house where she lives in the Beltline by $200 a month to $1,200 from $1,000. Gryba and her two roommates will all be moving out of Calgary because they haven’ t been able to find a place to live that they can afford. Her one roommate is moving back in with her mom in Wetaskiwin and Gryba and her boyfriend are moving to B.C.
"We can’t afford to live here anymore so we’re moving to a small town in B.C. where you can actually rent an apartment for $500," she says.
Gryba says landlords know that they can exploit tenants because there is such a chronic lack of housing. Last winter the heat in her apartment building was not working for two weeks and her landlord only fixed it after she threatened to get in touch with a lawyer.
"I think Calgary we’re getting to the point that we’re forgetting that not everyone is made of money here. It is a very rich province, but it’s not always evenly dispersed," says Gryba.
‘There are a lot of people in Calgary who are struggling to keep roofs over their heads and they’re forgotten in the background. They’re the ones serving you coffee. I think the people under the poverty line and the lower middle income are really struggling. Even though there’s a lot of jobs… they can’t pay you a living wage. It’s just a downward spiral."
Grant Neufeld, another local activist involved in the coalition, says the coalition is necessary because housing is a "fundamental, basic human right" that’s in jeopardy.
"The city is in a crisis. I don’t think crisis is at all an overstatement. We’re still in a position where we can deal with it and not face complete horrible stuff happening here but we’re pushing it to the limit," he says of the housing shortage.
Action is needed to prevent skyrocketing rental prices, apartment buildings being turned into condos and abuse of tenants by landlords, he says.
The province should consider imposing rent controls and says the city has to beef up enforcement to prevent landlord abuse of tenants. He’d also like to see the city make it a requirement that developers build a certain percentage of affordable housing in every project.
"If the city wants there to be affordable housing they can make it happen. They have the power. The thing is they have just been going along with what the developers want. They need to grow a backbone," says Neufeld, adding that he would also would like to see the city consider lowering tax rates for owners of affordable housing units, especially in the inner city.
He says the Conservative leadership race to replace Klein is "an opportunity to push for some change."
The Calgary Housing Action Initiative has launched a website, www.housingaction.ca, which will keep people updated on its activities. People interested in getting involved in the coalition can also call 262-2934. |
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