Bill would ’empower’ victims of violence
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2019 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government is looking to make it easier for victims of sexual or domestic violence to break residential leases to protect their safety.
Currently, tenants must report incidents of domestic violence or stalking to police and obtain a no-contact order from the courts to be eligible to terminate a lease.
Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said a bill he introduced in the legislature Wednesday would no longer require these steps.
“This legislation allows victims to get a statement from a range of professionals who are well-placed to assess danger. These professionals include physicians, psychologists, social workers or individuals employed at a shelter,” he said.
A statement from one of these individuals, along with any other relevant information, could be taken to the Justice Department’s victim services branch, which would issue a certificate that could be used to end a lease if there is risk to a tenant’s or a child’s safety. Bill 19, which amends the Residential Tenancies Act, also broadens who can qualify for early lease termination to include victims of sexual violence, Cullen said.
Rochelle Squires, the minister responsible for the status of women, said the amendments were developed based on advice from victims of violence.
“This is a tool that will help empower survivors at the time of their greatest need,” she said.
Meanwhile, the bill will streamline the province’s residential dispute-resolution process by providing for one right of appeal instead of two, Cullen said. This would make all decisions of the Residential Tenancies Commission final and not subject to further appeal to the courts.
Cullen said that would bring Manitoba’s rules in line with those of other Canadian jurisdictions.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
