Kingston hosts have joined together in a campaign to collectively oppose a restrictive bylaw which would have been disastrous to many of us. The proposed bylaw was largely cast in stone by the time we first learned about it last August. Had we not quickly gotten our act together and taken every opportunity to take our detailed critique of both the process and the detailed restriction in the City staff-written bylaw proposal to every City Councillor, it would have been adopted in December and would already have been in force. As it was, we managed to get it deferred to February and, while we're not out of the woods yet, we're hopeful that there are no longer the votes needed to pass some of the more restrictive measures. To add insult to injury, the bylaw proposal included authorizing a contract with a US firm to circumvent Airbnb's privacy protections which we all rely upon.
Hosts in other municipalities, most recently Gananoque, weren't so fortunate, in some cases finding out about the bylaw only after it was passed. The hotel lobby appears to be the common factor behind many if not all of these bylaws. If your municipality doesn't already have a restrictive bylaw in place, I would strongly recommend that you and other hosts speak with your respective municipal councillors and get them to agree to give you an immediate heads-up if and when they learn of such a bylaw being worked upon in your community. Staring a hosts' group now to protect your collective interests when the time comes would also be worth your while (ours is now up to 99 hosts, which makes a big difference when speaking to Council). We also have lots of written arguments which we would be willing to share and which could help get you off to a good start.
