A new report from the CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) shows that rental vacancies in Calgary are up a full percentage point, now at 1.5 percent from 0.5 percent last year, but the cost to rent in the city of Calgary is downright expensive!

In Calgary the average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is $1089, making Calgary the most expensive metropolitan city to rent a home in, in Canada – beating longstanding champion Vancouver.

I am reiterating my call for the need of rent controls in Alberta. These rent controls would make it so that landlords can not raise their rent faster then the rate of inflation and limit these increases to once a year. With the average rent increase in Alberta metropolitan areas between October 2006 and 2007 being 17.2% and between October 2005 and 2006 being 13.3%, we are having a rental crisis.

Alberta is out of the norm with rental increases of 17.2% in the previous year. Other provinces are seeing smaller rental increases during this period of time. For example, British Columbia only had a 5.5% rent increase (Meaning we will be well ahead of Vancouver in terms of rent costs next year), Manitoba had a 3.9% increase, Ontario had a 1.6% increase, Quebec had a 2.5% increase, New Brunswick had a 2.3% increase… I think you get the point. Albertans are being ripped off.

Someone making minimum wage in Alberta can not or barely can afford the average 2 bedroom apartment. The minimum wage in Alberta sits at $7 an hour.

I’m going to do some calculations just to show you how difficult it will be for someone making minimum wage in Alberta to afford a place to live. But before I do I want to say that you may hear statistics that only a small portion of Albertans make minimum wage, that is true. But those statistics do not include people making just above minimum wage (For example $8/hour or even $7.10/hour). I was once one of those making $7.10/hour, in reality I was making minimum wage. So I will do these calculations at $8/hour with no tax deductions and no missing days of work.

So here it is: Somebody working 5 days a week, no sick days, at $8/hour with no tax deductions (which wouldn’t happen) will take home $16,640. The cost for their two bedroom apartment is $13,068 per year. This leaves them $3572 left, if they didn’t pay taxes, which of course they did. That leaves this person with only $297.67 before taxes per month left for all other expenses. Not even enough for suitable food and transportation. Now imagine being a single parent making that much, having an extra mouth to feed, extra body to clothe and having to pay $300 or more each year in school fees – There goes a month’s budget. Alberta has a huge poverty problem that needs to be addressed today!

Saskatchewan looks to be headed in the same direction. With a 9.1% increase in rental rates between October 2006 and 2007 compared to an increase of only 3.6% between October 2005 and 2006. Saskatchewan can stop these unfair rental rates before they got out of hand like they are in Alberta, but with a new free market Premier, it seems very unlikely.

So to conclude, Alberta has such high rents that even a full time working person struggles to stay alive. Alberta also is the home of Calgary, the city with the largest homeless population. It’s a shame being the richest province in Canada and having so much poverty. Rent controls are needed in Alberta more than ever, and a full plan needs to be implemented to make poverty history in Alberta.

Update: I’ve made a Facebook group calling for Rent Controls in Alberta. Please join it, and we can have organized action for rent controls. Click here to go to the Facebook group.

Harper’s environment plan can not be called a plan and certainly can not be labeled as environmental. Stephen Harper announced that the government will be implementing intensity-based targets.

You may ask, what are intensity based targets? Intensity based targets means that if the economy is growing, more greenhouse gases are allowed to be produced. Our economy is doing great right now, so that means our environment will suffer under the Conservative plan. An environmental plan should lessen our negative impact on the environment, but this just allows that impact to grow. This is not an alternative to the Kyoto accord and Canadians should feel insulted for being deceived. Let’s not wait for a depression or a stock market crash for us to lower our emissions, let’s protect the environment today and preserve it for our grandchildren!

I’m getting so sick of this. Our environment minister and our Government keeps on dodging the environment issue. We’ve had eight months of “we are developing a made in Canada plan” which has now turned into an “approach” which no deals have been made public. And also during these eight months we’ve heard the phrase “Liberal inaction” countless times. Liberal inaction, sure I agree with that! But what is the Conservative government going to do about it? Right now it looks like they are going down a worse path than the Liberals – Liberal and Conservative inaction. Cutting programs will save money, but if you don’t replace it with anything, the environment loses.

Climate change is a top issue. If Rona Ambrose can’t see this, then she must resign from her portfolio. Right now she is acting as the Minister of Profit for Oil and Gas. The environment is a time sensitive issue and voters will realize this in the next election.

NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) wants to give the parliament buildings back to parliament.

OTTAWA – NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) announced today that he is introducing a motion calling for Members of Parliament to take control of the Parliamentary Precinct.
Last spring, when the government refused to lower the flag on the Peace Tower in respect for the death of a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, Mr. Martin raised a point of privilege in the House of Commons, saying that Parliament, not government, should decide what happens on Parliament Hill. “It should be Parliament not Government who decides whether or not the flag on the Peace Tower is lowered to half-mast,” said Martin.
At the time, Speaker Peter Milliken considered the motion but eventually ruled that the House of Commons and the Senate are merely “tenants” in the Parliament buildings, and the Government had direction and control over all physical aspects of the parliamentary precinct.
In other words, the government is Parliament’s landlord.

The Majority of Canadians elected Parliament and not the Government. Parliament should not only be in charge of Parliamentary procedure, but they should be given more control over running the country. The opposition MPs were elected too! Yet in minority governments, it seems like the opposition has less power then they should have.

It will interesting to see if this gets unanimous support.

I see so many different things that can be done differently at home and abroad to make the world a better place, yet so many politicians want to reverse the clock on our accomplishments and do not even try to attempt to improve anything. They regulate less, they cut programs and in the end they shift all the power from the people to the corporations. It is about time that this changes before it is too late.

I am not advocating complete government control over everything, as many of my opponents would say I am doing, but working people deserve control over the necessities of life. This includes housing, food, water, energy and many more necessary services/goods. Some of these industries are already run by the private sector, and they will probably continue to be done so. However, that does not mean the public should have no say in these industries. This where regulations come into play; without regulations, the sky is the limit for ways corporations can profit, and they will pick the easiest, not always the best, way to profit. However, with regulations, the corporations have to follow what is determined to be best for Canada and the world. They will be forced to find ways to profile while follow a set of guidelines. And trust me, they will still profit, that is their goal after all.

While the more conservative politicians are regulating less, they are also cutting funding to so many social programs. These cuts are not seen as savings for the average working family, they are seen as a loss. The average working family is the one who needs public health care, public education and government pensions. When these are cut, the only ones who save are the corporations. All these corporate tax cuts recently have been paid for by cuts to social programming. It is about time that this stops, we need these programs to ensure that everyone can live decently and that everyone’s future is secure.

All of this can change. We, the people, have the vote. Sometimes it seems like our vote is useless, but with enough momentum the people can change things around and in the process it will make your vote more meaningful. The date of the next federal election is unknown, but you can still take action now. Write to your elected representatives and tell them your feelings. And on Election Day, send a powerful message to them with your vote.