The Manitoba government announced plans Thursday to expand rent control, raise electricity rates for some large users and keep grocery prices from fluctuating for different consumers.
The proposals were among more than 15 bills and potential regulations introduced at the legislature before politicians broke for the weekend.
The NDP government launched public feedback on a plan that would apply rent controls to more-expensive units. The province currently sets a limit on annual rent increases for units that rent for up to $1,670 a month, and is proposing to raise that ceiling to $2,000.
Landlords can apply to raise rents higher than normally allowed for a variety of reasons, including repairs and upgrades, and the government is planning to reduce the percentage of upgrade costs that can be passed on to renters. Administrative penalties for landlords who violate the act could be increased.
“This is the largest expansion to rent control in decades,” said Mintu Sandhu, minister for consumer protection.
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A bill on grocery prices would forbid sellers, whether in-store or online, from using customers’ personal data to charge higher prices.
The NDP has promised to crack down on what is known as “differential pricing,” which has been reported in the United States. It involves third-party apps that could base a price on a consumer’s shopping history or personal information. The Retail Council of Canada has said such pricing has not been used by food sellers in Manitoba.
Two other bills would be aimed at shoring up the province’s electrical grid. Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro has said it could need new generating power as early as 2029 and is working on new wind-power generation with Indigenous-owned ventures.
One bill would allow Manitoba Hydro to charge higher rates, up to double normal rates, to specific high-demand users such as cryptocurrency operations and large-scale data centres.
Another bill would allow Manitoba Hydro to curtail power use by cryptocurrency mining during periods of peak demand. The government had earlier placed a moratorium on hooking up new crypto-mining businesses to the grid.
“Crypto-mining remains a low-value driver to the Manitoba economy,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala said.
Other bills introduced Thursday would:
- expand the definition of bullying in schools, currently affecting one person, to include behaviour that creates a negative or unsafe school environment for groups or classes of persons.
- require sports organizations to develop policies on inclusion and conduct assessments of their demographic composition.
- introduce new rules governing electric scooters and limit the extent of automated driver assistance features in vehicles on roadways.
Most of the bills proposed by the government Thursday were not available to read, in print or online. The government said the text of the bills will be available next week.
The NDP opposed such delays while in Opposition. Government house leader Nahanni Fontaine said that’s because the former Tory government had long delays before producing bills, while the NDP plans to have the bills available within days.
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