About the NDP leadership race ...

I'll say this just once to get it off my chest: A cabinet minister who cares more about landlords than tenants is not suitable to lead a social democratic party -- not even one that just pretends to be a social democratic party.
My MLA, the finance minister who listened only to landlords regarding the tenants-and-pets issue here in Manitoba, has proven himself a pal to landlords and (at best) indifferent to the property-less.
The director of the Residential Tenancies Branch told me by letter in May that the pet damage deposit policy (passed into law weeks later) was "based on comments made by a local landlords' association." She also conceded that the branch has no real evidence that pet deposits have succeeded in opening up suites for pet owners in B.C.
Here's part of my reply to her letter: "In short, your letter tells me the Residential Tenancies Branch has no evidence to support a pet deposit policy and the government is following the advice of 'a local landlords' association.' I find that interesting, and I appreciate the insight.
"The admittedly anecdotal evidence I have collected so far indicates the policy has not worked in British Columbia. In the absence of solid evidence that it would work here, and given that an extra deposit would be a burden on tenants, the government ought to abandon this policy direction for now. It seems unwise to proceed with a policy that will be costly to some people and may have no benefit at all."
Of course, the government cared not one whit about the policy's impact on tenants. It gave the landlords what they wanted, like a good party of the business class.
Kudos to the Liberal party's leader for attempting to get a prohibition on "no pets" policies, by the way.
There. That felt good.