Rent control: What tenants should know as rental prices surge across Canada

Despite the differences in tenancy regulations, there’s a common theme: Canadians across the country have seen a jump in the year-over-year average rent.

Last month, the national average rent https://globalnews.ca/news/9424677/rent-prices-canada-january-2023/ rose by more than 12 per cent to $2,005 compared with December 2021, according to Rentals.ca’s January 2023 Rent Report. https://rentals.ca/national-rent-report That was the second straight month that the average monthly rent exceeded $2,000 in Canada, which is facing a housing crunch with a shortage of both homes and construction workers to build new units.

Among the ranked cities, Kitchener, Ont., Halifax and London, Ont. saw the biggest year-over-year jump of over 30 per cent in the average rent for apartment and condo listings last month, according to the report.

The cities that saw the lowest rent hikes were Gatineau, Que., which posted an increase of 5.3 per cent for December 2022, while Montreal saw a 6.6 per cent rise.

Meanwhile in Alberta https://www.alberta.ca/during-a-tenancy.aspx#jumplinks-4, there is no rent control — meaning the province has not set a limit on the amount by which a landlord may be able to increase the rent after one year. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/9438796/rent-increase-tenant-rights-canada/?utm_source=NewsletterNational&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2023|
#cdnpoli #abpoli #rent #landlords #increases

Fossil Fuel Interests Spent Millions on Social Media to Push Climate Denial, Misinformation Around COP27

Climate denial, “delayism,” and pro-fossil fuels messages are making a “stark comeback” across social media platforms, according to a report https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-vol-2-exposing-new-trends-in-climate-mis-and-disinformation-at-cop27/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=242504826&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_xSInF2X2Qcn03Y2fLzCQvv4DLfojgkJeVFYizzi_8RwSYv0vLP_IjgQev0XNYkKyraXLjrdWi-da3IRLcWFVWk7v5Cg&utm_content=242504826&utm_source=hs_email released Thursday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

The report’s findings reveal “negligence from Big Tech companies who not only continue to monetize and enable, but in some cases actively recommend, such content to users,” its authors write. “What’s happening in the information ecosystem poses a direct threat to action,” ISD’s Jennie King told the AP. “It plants those seeds of doubt and makes people think maybe there isn’t scientific consensus.”

In the leadup to and during COP27, entities connected to fossil fuels spent at least $3 million on Facebook and Instagram ads between Sept. 1 and Nov. 21 of last year in the leadup to and during COP27. That content included ads by oil industry groups, ads from oil and gas firms like Shell https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/biden-slams-oil-companies-war-profiteering/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=242504826&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–o4YGWGgJlqhctV_rDj5RAHTDLo7tlul8apWaVd1iqxqYrAEx1y4p__FHUZYRZS2RLwZVVvyBrRag19xJ6To4Snyp7Rw&utm_content=242504826&utm_source=hs_email, https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/local-news-outlets-operated-by-chevron-pr-firm/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=242504826&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_80nA0l5g0rvN2CZwdO9sm7sars_kr5f3yH3cl6mi1jIYFPZpqj-lrLMmAcBsDhzn5LL-fVwYtygDRpeSLQdnH1HGXLA&utm_content=242504826&utm_source=hs_email, and https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/exxonmobil-accurately-predicted-climate-change/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=242504826&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–Kk5kLC4lH5pH0Pvq7ju-02pAGIgq1EVchJYmksMmGhlCQ1ZqlFGGYAPHZsw5OlPs8Gcvj8_Gp2b1PXTcskS1HY5qURw&utm_content=242504826&utm_source=hs_email touting their claimed green credentials, and ads from accounts like PragerU claiming, for example, a “New poll debunks the 97% consensus claim about #climatechange.” |Read more https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-denial-social-media-fossil-fuel-industry.html|
#cdnpoli #WEF #activists #enviroinment #GretaThunberg #oil #gas #misinformation

Individual Inflation Costs Differ

Many people who didn’t receive a raise since the start of the pandemic are seeing increases in their monthly income now. AISH, and those on Social Assistance, had their amounts re-indexed after Premier Kenney de-indexed them in 2019, so he had more money to give to the oil & gas companies. Premier Smith, on the other hand, is passing out excessive amounts to try and win votes for the coming election this year.

One person I know, got a five-hundred dollar bonus this year and a raise of four percent. Another person I know, received a one-thousand dollar bonus and a two percent increase in their salary. It would seem it was generous of the Alberta government to re-index those on social support and give them a six percent increase.

Using three people in this scenario, who aren’t making enough money to buy houses, afford expensive rent, or overly spend on food, car maintenance, insurance and gas, plus very little on clothing or household items, it was determined that over-all the rate of their inflation is closer to eighteen percent.

These calculations are loosely based on an interactive Inflation calculator https://globalnews.ca/news/8820620/inflation-calculator-interactive-personal-finances/, published by Global News. At the top of the page it says, “If you had a basket of items in December 2019 that cost $89, the increase in cost has gone up by 12.2% since then.

It would seem each of us has an inflation rate that differs from our neighbours. One thing that seems to remain constant, is that our money isn’t stretching as far as it did in 2019.

#abpoli #inflation #cdnpoli #working #wages #increases

A war of words over ‘just transition’ is just the beginning

Is there a better metaphor for the latest tension between Alberta and the federal government than tilting at windmills? There’s the creation of conflict where none really exists and, to be needlessly blunt about it, there’s a windmill — not quite a wind turbine, but close enough.

In truth, however, even the metaphorical windmill is a bit much. It suggests something of substance, a physical thing. Instead, the latest row over “just transition” legislation is more about a disagreement over semantics, albeit one bolstered by a whole lot of sociopolitical baggage.

“I think we’re all on board with that,” she said. “But to use that terminology, they’re virtue signaling to an extreme base that is openly advocating to shut down oil and natural gas.”

Where the province and the federal government do differ — and it’s the heart of the ongoing tensions — is what kind of impact a changing climate and a changing economy will have and how quickly that province needs to transition away from fossil fuels.

Ottawa has committed to steep emissions reductions in order to keep warming below 1.5C, and is pushing aggressively to implement targets that include a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 and more.

Alberta, on the other hand, supports climate initiatives as long as they don’t shut down the industry that continues to bring in barrels upon barrels of wealth. It argues the industry will be around for decades and can successfully bring down its carbon pollution enough to be considered relatively sustainable.

The tension that exists between those two views allows for the smallest spark — a word or two — to turn into a conflagration.

But arguments over just transition and all the coming climate-related policies, plans, legislation or regulations also have to be viewed within the larger context of Alberta’s identity, its residents’ long-simmering anxiety over the future of the economy and climate, as well as never-ending battles over legislative jurisdiction and pure politicking.

“The provincial government is spoiling for a fight, and they’ll take any federal government statement or initiative that gives them a chance to raise the alarm about what the federal government is doing,” Young says. |Read more https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-just-transition/| #abpoli #JustTransition #Trudeau #smith #ucp #ClimateChange