Maybe Neighbours Are Just Tired of the Keg Parties, Babs

Babs sticks her nose in again. This is part of her letter to the Mayor of Oshawa, as its elected reps decided on a new housing by-law that very night.

We thought we heard a strange sound back in February. Turns out, it was just the Mayor of Oshawa wiping his ass with Babs’ letter.

We understand that Oshawa City Council is holding a meeting tonight to discuss a proposed bylaw that would limit student housing options in designated neighbourhoods around the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College.

In our recent consultation on rental housing in Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission heard about the critical shortage of affordable rental housing across Ontario. We heard about the adverse impacts of exclusionary zoning, and the need to promote, not limit, basement apartments and other affordable housing options. We also heard from students, in particular, about how age discrimination in rental housing affects them.

The Commission will be publishing its findings and some recommended action steps this spring. In the meantime, I urge Oshawa City Council members to look closely at what has been proposed, to apply a sound city-wide planning rationale, and to consider the human rights impacts of its decisions.