Renters At Risk Rally

<%image(20081026-r@r_rally.jpg|450|338|Sharon Isaak speaking with West Ender on Oct. 25, 2008)%>

Sharon Isaak

Renters at Risk campaign would like to extend utmost thanks to all
supporters of evictees and renters rights who came to the rally on Saturday.
Also, a big thank you to those who spent your free time helping us
ensure it was a success. It simply would not have been possible
without all of us working together, with incredible energy,
commitment and dedication to the issues. We surpassed our goals today
for the event. Well done everyone.

When we unite and fight, we will get renters rights!

for photos of the event

We had extensive media coverage this week. The stories on CTV and
GLOBAL were good and got play on Saturday and Sunday.. Radio has been
covering this issue too, Rick Kluff earlier in the week, CBC, CKNW
today, AM1130, and a few others. This week, we've had coverage pushing
the rental issue in the Straight, the Province, the Courier and the
Westender.

It was really great to see the politicians out today too. They are
really busy and their time is very valuable. It was good to see them
there, and to have candidates from all sides of the political spectrum
come out to support renters was an important statement. Renters
clearly represent a diverse group of political backgrounds. Vancouver
needs protection for renters and these are the people that can make it
happen.

We did the questionnaire last week, which was a really effective way
to get out to meet the candidates and the get the issues on the table.
The NDP came out with their position on this issue last week at a
press conference. The questionnaire and the media attention is
flushing out the Liberals to review their position on this particular
issue. They are hearing the message that this is a real problem in the
West End.. There will be a “big announcement on Monday” according to
Arthur Griffiths on the news tonight. Will it be the big news renters
are hoping for to save them from corporate landlords using unfair
tactics to get huge rent increases?

On behalf of the original members in Renters at Risk, we would like to
thank everyone who basically spent all their free time helping us make
the events last week and this week a success. Without people getting
involved and the support of other community groups, it would not have
happened. It makes our long struggle for changes to the RTA
worthwhile and it is high time that the Liberal Government pay
attention to this issue. Rights of first refusal must be implemented
before the West End is forever transformed into a haven for the rich.

for photos of the event

This entry was posted on October 26, 2008 at October 26, 2008 and is filed under Correspondence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.