Housing Help is a non-profit agency that assists families and individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. On February 4th, 2009 Housing Help organized the SCAN Information Session to educate community agencies about the legislation and the impact it would have on tenants in the City of Ottawa.
Housing advocates and human rights groups across the province have voiced their concern about SCAN due to the many flaws in the legislation. It contradicts the principles of natural justice by the fact that tenants are evicted without a hearing or the right to face their accusers. It takes away resources from preventative measures, such as treatment centres and community support services. A primary concern to our agency is that the legislation can cause tenants in a building to be immediately evicted from their homes even if they are known to be innocent of the allegations (Section 20 of the legislation states that tenants not involved in the alleged activities may be given referrals to shelters or other community resources).
SCAN undermines the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), which already has provisions to expedite evictions, in some cases this can be in as little as a week. Even with the RTA in place, Ontario would have spent to spend approximately eight million to implement SCAN. Since SCAN is a ‘no-money’ bill, it is the municipalities that will pick up these costs. This money could be better spent on addressing the root causes of crime, such as treatment centres, youth programs, and affordable housing. Since the criminal activity is simply displaced and relocated to other parts of the city, the costs to police and enforcement will increase, as well.
In summary, Houisng Help opposes SCAN because:
It displaces the problem from one part of the community to another
It is financially costly to implement in the community
It evicts people without a hearing
It removes the rights accorded for natural justice
It undermines legislation already in place
It impacts on affordable housing
It is counterproductive to the work of Community Health Centres, treatment centres, and support programs.
