Comments on Bill 5: Residential Tenancy Act August, 1983 The B.C. Civil Liberties Association’s 1970 brief entitled "Landlord and Tenant Legislation" recommended that three major features be incorporated into B.C.’s residential tenancy legislation: Revision of the law regarding termination of tenancies so that landlords may terminate only for specific statutory causes, and not without cause, Provision for a provincial body to govern and control rent increases and Provision for a provincial landlord and tenant bureau with jurisdiction to arbitrate and conciliate disputes between landlords and tenants. Each of these recommendations was subsequently incorporated into the 1974 Landlord and Tenant Act, and the subsequent 1977 Residential Tenancy Act. However, the provincial government’s recently proposed amendments, which are contained in Bill 5, would, if enacted, repeal the 1977 Act and eliminate all of these landlord and tenant protections. In particular, amendments are proposed to allow landlords to terminate a tenancy "without cause", the Rental office’s rent review powers will be repealed on June 30, 1984 and the authority of the Rental Office to arbitrate disputes between landlords and tenants will be repealed on October 1, 1983, when its jurisdiction is transferred to the courts. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is opposed to these changes in this province’s residential tenancy law. As we noted in our earlier brief, allowing tenancies to be terminated "without cause" often led to an abusive exercise of authority by landlords over tenants. We also argued that an agency should be established with rent review powers and authority to arbitrate other disputes arising out of the rental of accommodation, so that a quick, low cost and effective mechanism would be available to redress abuses caused by either landlords or tenants. In our view, the government’s decision to abolish the Rental Office and refer disputes over tenancy to the courts to save money, is ill considered, and we suspect that it will not achieve its objective. This proposal will simply add to the cost of administering an already congested and overburdened court system. As well, it is likely to lead to widespread dissatisfaction by landlords and tenants in the residential tenancy system because of lengthy delays that will be experienced in resolving disputes through the courts. We are extremely doubtful that any cost-benefit analysis would lead to the conclusion that the Rental Office ought to be abolished. Finally, we are strongly opposed to the proposal contained In Section 3(2) of Bill 5 to allow Cabinet to amend the general terms of all tenancy agreements by regulation (this provision is in the present Act as veil). In our view, the basic statutory protections applying to all tenancy agreements are a matter of public policy and should not, therefore, be established by Cabinet decree, where there is no opportunity for public input or parliamentary debate on any proposed changes. Regulations are intended only to provide a framework for administering policy outlined in a statute. In effect, this proposal would allow Cabinet to rewrite the Residential Tenancy Act without having to go to the Legislature for debate and approval of its proposals. Such a delegation of authority is a clear abuse of parliamentary process. A more detailed discussion of landlord and tenants rights is contained in our brief "Landlord and Tenant Legislation", which is available from our office.