FINING LANDLORDS THE WRONG APPROACH

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

That's the line of thinking municipal leaders in the northern British
Columbia city of Prince George are adhering to as they consider fining
landlords who rent their homes to tenants who deal drugs.

Rob Whitwham, administrative services director for the city of Prince
George, said the city wants to make landlords responsible for the people
they rent to, claiming the rental housing costs the municipality a lot of
money, presumably in unpaid utility bills, and the city wants to recover it.

The Prince George RCMP are also onside and encourage the change as it's an
attempt to make absentee landlords more actively involved in their properties.

While no decision has been made, city staff are studying the possibility
and looking at bylaws in other communities, including one in Surrey, which
allows the municipality to recoup costs related to marijuana grow
operations and drug-making labs.

Prince George's proposed plan is ridiculous. Most landlords own rental
property to make money, but they also provide a huge service to those in
the rental market by offering a variety of housing.

Landlords in no way should be responsible for the actions of their tenants.
But they should be responsible for their property and any unpaid city bills.

Some smaller communities in Alberta, including the town of Coaldale, have a
bylaw which ensures the owner of the property is responsible to the town
for town-provided utilities, which ensures it will always get paid, even if
the tenant ducks out.

The landlord then passes on those costs to the tenant which gets wrapped
into the monthly rental fee.

No doubt municipalities are trying to come up with innovative ideas to
plump up their coffers as the federal government keeps providing less money
to them and citizens demand the same, or better, levels of service.

Tuesday's federal budget was no big help to municipalities either and John
Manley's announcement of who will get how much was called a "doomsday for
Canadian municipalities" by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

But to fine landlords who either knowingly or unknowingly rent to drug
dealers isn't a solution.