Yukon NDP Leader apologizes for 'unintended consequences' from rent cap

Yukon NDP Leader Kate White says a flaw in her party's first confidence and supply agreement (CASA) with the governing Liberals contributed to evictions from rental housing.

The first CASA was signed in 2021 and underwrote the Liberal minority government. Of its many commitments, the agreement aimed to improve affordability in the territory by capping residential rent increases at the rate of inflation. However, the deal did not also include a ban on no-cause evictions, which the NDP campaigned on during that year's territorial election.

Since then, there have been multiple instances of renters being forced to move, where the suspected reason was landlords using no-cause evictions to evade the rent cap. Last August, tenants of an entire Whitehorse apartment building were reportedly served eviction notices, with rents hiked by hundreds of dollars following their ouster.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, White said she recognized the "unintended consequences" that ensued from the first CASA, but also maintained there were those who benefited from that agreement.

"I had conversations with every one of those folks who reached out, and in the same breath I had conversations with the hundreds of people whose rent all of a sudden became stable — because let's be clear, not every landlord evicted their tenants," White said.

"We do have outlier landlords and we saw what they did, and they were the ones who evicted people from spaces. That wasn't good for anyone. It wasn't good for landlords. It wasn't good for tenants."

While White said she did not anticipate the evictions, Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn said the NDP was warned about that possibility. He said the government, landlords and chambers of commerce urged an alternative to the rent cap.

Mostyn said as landlords faced higher costs they weren't able to recoup, they took the route that was available.

"Suddenly landlords faced a rent index. They weren't allowed to raise rents; the only way they could do that is by letting people out of their homes," he said.

White said that led to hard conversations with those affected.

"I told them I was sorry. I told them I was sorry and I could never anticipate that someone would be so bad that that's what they would do," she said.

She said lessons learned from the first CASA are reflected in the second one, which was signed in January. This time, the agreement includes an immediate ban on no-cause evictions.

As per CASA, the ban will be enshrined in law after a review of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, set to begin in June.