I believe that if rent controls were removed, we would return to the day of landlords gouging tenants. It is the only policy in place to stop the landlord from raising the rent to whatever they please, whenever they want.
Landlords have a process to follow if they have a legitimate need for an extra increase. If they can prove they actually are using the increase correctly they can get an extra amount. They SHOULD have to justify this. If they are making expensive improvements to the building and need the extra money and the tenants will benefit or are they just trying to get something past the Board? They should need to prove there is a difference.
Landlords using the excuse that rent controls hurt everyone because buildings will not get built is not true. New buildings have not been getting built for years. New construction has been on a steady decline for thirty years; even before rent control came into effect. Every government that comes into power promise to build more housing, especially low income housing. I have yet to see those promises come to fruition.
Landlords keep saying that rent controls will drive them out of business - they cannot afford to do repairs, etc. If it was not profitable, they would not be doing it. Real estate is still one of the safest investments out there.
A lot of tenants are already paying over the 35% threshold of what is recommended for household expenses. If rent controls were removed - tenants would have no protections, and very few options available.

I think after reading these articles that landlords definitely have legitimate complaints. Though if you talk to tenants, they also have many legitimate complaints. It all depends on who you are talking to at the moment. Every group of people are always going to have a few bad ones who give the good ones a bad name.
I think the biggest complaint from landlords would be about tenants who deliberately skip out on their rent obligations and maliciously damage their units. How much money and how long does it take for the landlords to get their money back, if they are able to at all. Another complaint I noticed from the article, was that landlords were worried about being blindsided from tenants who show up with disputes, at the last minute - either real or imagined.
One comment I really agreed with in the article was - if you do not pay your car payment, your car will be repossessed; if you do not pay your cable bill, it will be disconnected - what is the landlord's recourse? Tribunals. All of which takes time, and the tenant lives rent free while waiting for the process to happen.
I do not think that professional tenants are a problem. I think like bad landlords, you will always have those few bad apples that ruin it for everyone else.
I have rented for a lot of my adult life and have been fairly lucky with landlords, though I always try to be a good tenant. I have heard a few horror stories though. People who can never get a hold of their landlord. A tenant whose landlord would never turn her heat on.
Last winter in Hamilton, one of the buildings here had a problem. The gas company cut off the heat because the apartment building itself did not pay the bill. The whole building had no heat. Finally the city stepped in because these people were going weeks in the middle of winter with no heat. They were paying their rent, so it was through no fault of their own.
Finally, landlords exchanging information could be a good thing, if it was kept in context. People's privacy rights cannot be violated - under any circumstances. People have to accept the facts that tenants can run into a bad period of time and can turn their lives around. You cannot hold something against someone forever. But when it comes to looking for those professional tenants, this may be the way to help each other search them out.

Yes obviously homelessness is a real problem in communities, big and small, all across our country. Even one homeless person is one too many, especially in a country as rich as ours.
I live in a non-profit housing co-operative and we have subsidized units available. We continuously have people apply from the shelters around the city, for units. We have given quite a few units to people from shelters. Unfortunately we do not have enough units to keep up with the applicants. The rules they have at the shelters are so strict also, they are allowed to stay for a limited time and have to leave during the day to search for work and a home, and keep their children with them while they are doing this. What happens if they cannot find affordable housing within that time period? Do we just have more homeless families on the street now?
The government has allocated 850 million dollars to improve low income housing, but I have yet to see anything happening. Our category of housing has been allocate 150 million dollars of grant money. We have to go through a long application process, and then an inspection. We have been approved for a portion of the grant money to do repairs, but we have no idea how much money we will receive. It will be no where near the 900 thousand dollars we need. This means we will end up in more debt and unable to help as many people as we would like.
The government needs to follow through on their promises. They need to create more low income housing and more shelters. The Royal Connaught Hotel in Hamilton has been empty for years and would be the perfect place to create rooms for the homeless or low income housing.
There also needs to be more follow through on prosecuting landlords who discriminate against tenants they may find undesirable. This just adds to homelessness when they are now unable to find homes - where are they to turn?
The article, "Hidden Homelessness" brings it all home. I believe the zoning restrictions springs from the NIMBY principle - NOT IN MY BACKYARD. People just don't want to deal with this issue and if they do not see it they do not have to believe it exists. There are so many things we can do to help. If you cannot help financially, as most of can't, contribute with your time. Bring this issue to the forefront. Make people read this article and perhaps they may see that it could be them or someone they know.
The homeless could be anyone, as this article proves. Of course, you will find the odd person who does not want to work and just does not care, but I believe if you asked the majority of homeless people would give anything to have a home. A lot of people struggling are those on fixed incomes. Their monies do not increase, but their expenses do. Single mothers trying to raise children, not sure where they will be sleeping. How can they be enrolled in school? How about new residents to Canada or the sick?
Is charity enough? Opening a shelter when it goes below -15 degrees. Is that enough? It's not cold enough the rest of the time? They do not need a bed any other time of the year? Or food? Or should we be putting a time limit on shelter stays? How charitable are we really being?
Bottom line is - these people need more than charity, they need a permanent solution.