Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak to Private Member's Bill C-402.
This bill will amend the Indian Act to provide protection for individuals renting residential premises on Indian land by making provincial landlord and tenant legislation apply to those leases.
The impetus for this bill came from an incident in the Okanagan—Coquihalla riding in British Columbia. Although I am not a resident of this riding or of the province, I feel the implications of this incident are important to Canadians nationwide and certainly to constituents in my area.
Last November the 51 families of the Driftwood Mobile Home Park were evicted from their homes after Health Canada declared the sewage treatment facilities were inadequate and posed a serious health hazard. Under B.C. law it is normally the responsibility of the landlord to ensure the building and property are kept in a condition that makes the building reasonably comfortable to live in. Part of this responsibility is to maintain the building and property to health and safety standards. In the case of mobile home parks, it is the responsibility of the landlord to ensure the property is safe and habitable.
The unfortunate residents of the Driftwood Mobile Home Park enjoyed no such protections. Why? Because their homes were located on the property of the Penticton Indian band. Nobody had been inspecting this land because it fell under a grey area of the law.
I would like to give a bit of the history to put this incident into perspective. On March 30, 1988 under section 58(3) of the Indian Act, the minister granted authorization to lease Indian reserve land to Ethel and Margaret Kruger for their benefit. The term of this lease was from March 30, 1988 to March 30, 1998. The property of the lease was to be used for the purpose of the mobile home park operated by Sanmar Mobile Home Services.
When that firm created the park the septic fields were not engineered to handle the high volumes that are being experienced. As a result these fields have been saturated beyond a safe level and the overflow is creating a serious health hazard.
Health Canada's Indian health services branch, which is responsible for approving septic field installations on Indian land, claimed that it was never informed of the Driftwood septic installation. This breakdown in communication led to 51 families being torn from their community, many forced to abandon their homes without any compensation. If this situation were not tragic enough, the same fate may await other residents of mobile home parks located on the Penticton reserve land.
Health Canada has declared that both the Driftwood and Delta mobile home parks face serious health risks. Although the Sun Leisure and Riva Ridge parks have inadequate septic systems, Health Canada has not yet declared them to be a serious health risk.
The residents of Driftwood Mobile Home Park were given 30-day eviction notices. In an effort to resolve this problem, my colleague organized a meeting between the minister of Indian affairs, the mayor of Penticton, Ms. Beth Campbell, and the local MLA, Rick Thorpe, and Chief Phillip of the Penticton Band.
Despite the efforts of those involved, a comprehensive solution was not reached and the hon. member's constituents lost their homes only one month before Christmas. This is at a time when people should be enjoying the fellowship of their friends and families in the comfort of their own homes, not worrying about where they will be living.
This incident should not be repeated but it is a very real possibility. Thousands of Canadians who rent federal Indian reserve land are in danger, citizens of Canada who have no idea that they have been left in limbo because the law does not recognize their rights.
The Indian Act is a complex one. For years different levels of government have been struggling with what the bill covers and what it does not cover. According to the Supreme Court of Canada there are only two ways for a non-Indian to be in lawful possession in a reserve, through the operation of sections 28(2) or 58(3).
Section 28(2) states:
The minister may, by permit, in writing authorize any person for a period not exceeding one year, or with the consent of the council of the band for any longer period, to occupy or use a reserve or to reside or otherwise exercise rights on a reserve.
Section 58(3) states:
The minister may lease for the benefit of any Indian, on application of that Indian for that purpose, the land of which the Indian is lawfully in possession without the land being designated.
It is under these sections that a 10-year lease was granted. Although it was not outlined in the lease, it was implicit in the agreements with the sublessees that they would be protected under the provincial landlord and tenant legislation. Indeed it was the responsibility of the lessee to provide at its expense all services and facilities required for use of the premise. This would include septic services.
However, because of the failure of Health Canada to inspect these services, the residents fell through the cracks. Although they appealed to the provincial landlord and tenant board they were not successful.
The Supreme Court of Canada stated that provincial legislation does not apply to residential tenancies on Indian reserves. Parliament has the exclusive power to legislate with respect to such tenancies. This was stated in Millbrook Indian Band v Northern Counties Residential Tenancies Board et al, 1978. Again, in Anderson v Triple Creek Estates, the supreme court stated that provincial legislation does not apply to an eviction dispute between a mobile home park tenant and the park proprietor. It continues to say that “although it may be unfair to deprive a person of an appeal against a termination at will of a tenancy, this matter can only be resolved on reserve land by federal authority”.
A letter from the British Columbia minister for municipal affairs and housing, Mr. Michael Farnworth, confirms this is a federal responsibility. He writes:
It is with profound regret that I see tenants facing eviction under these conditions, however the entire tenancy responsibility on federally owned lands lies with the federal government. It is apparent that there is a serious federal legislative and policy vacuum in this area, resulting in crippling impact on individuals and families who are tenants of federal lands in this province.
It is apparent that there is a responsibility on the part of the government to fill in this void. That is where Bill C-402 comes in. The bill is designed to prevent future Driftwoods from happening again by making existing provincial tenancy legislation apply to leases granted by the crown. The crown, the lessors, and the sublessors will be subject to provincial authorities that enforce the obligations of landlord and tenants.
Although I have already mentioned this, I will do so again for the benefit of members opposite. The landlord and tenant legislation in B.C. ensures that a landlord must maintain land or residential premises in compliance with health, safety and housing standards set out by the law. The crown and lessor will be responsible for meeting provincial standards set out under the various provincial residential tenancy acts.
Bill C-402 is a simple non-partisan amendment to the Indian Act that would prevent other Canadians from facing the tragedy of the unfortunate residents of Driftwood Mobile Home Park.
I realize that Bill C-402 is a non-votable item and that is very unfortunate. As has been explained in this House, it is a very unfortunate thing that we as members of parliament cannot help create laws.
The bill would ensure that Canadians are all treated equitably before the law. If any of the members opposite would care to see what Reform stands for, all they need to do is flip through the Reform Party blue book and peruse the statement of principles. The first statement says:
We affirm our commitment to Canada as one nation, indivisible, and to our vision of Canada as a balanced federation of equal provinces and citizens.
The last statement of principle states:
We believe in the true equality of all Canadian citizens, with equal rights and responsibilities for all.
I think it is absolutely plain to see this is a party dedicated to the equality of all citizens and I congratulate my colleague for bringing this forward. I know Liberal Party members think quite highly of the Reform Party blue book because they have, albeit it with mixed success, adopted many of our policies as their own.
However, they would do well to consider these two principles that are so core to the heart of our party. It is apparent through the actions of this government on many issues that it does not consider equality of all Canadians a thing to be grasped.
However, perhaps we should leave this debate for another day. It is because of my dedication to the equality of all citizens that I support this bill.