To those wondering about what that noise was in the background (which I exhausted all efforts in trying to eliminate without success), it was due to the above LED flood light's cooling fan.
The parts where people didn't use a microphone were amplified to be at the same level as the rest of audio. The one segment with microphone feedback was high-passed in order to eliminate it (this was successful).
Had I kept the camera in the middle of the isle and a few rows back, the persistent cooling fan would not have been barely audible. I was not prepared for this unfortunately.
The parts where people didn't use a microphone were amplified to be at the same level as the rest of audio. The one segment with microphone feedback was high-passed in order to eliminate it (this was successful).
Had I kept the camera in the middle of the isle and a few rows back, the persistent cooling fan would not have been barely audible. I was not prepared for this unfortunately.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00:00Thank you very much, everyone, for being here this evening. My name is Josh Matlow. I am our local city councillor here in Toronto, St. Paul's. And I know many of you, and it's good to meet some of you, I haven't yet.
00:00:17The reason that, and you might wonder, you know, everyone's talking about whether it be the federal election or Trump or all these things going on in the world. You might wonder why, in the midst of all of this, it's important to hold meetings. We held one in the eastern part of Toronto, St. Paul's, and now we're in the western part of Toronto, St. Paul's, focused and dedicated squarely on tenants' rights and making sure that you know what you need to know to be able to
00:00:46ensure that the health, the safety, and the affordability of our communities is advocated for and protected. And the reason why we do this is because I hear from people all the time that they either have, and by the way, just to be clear, there are good landlords, but far too many landlords do not respect the fact that their building and their tenants are not merely a source of income, but that these are people's homes.
00:01:16And there are tenants who are struggling to get the support they need from their landlord when it comes to health and safety in their building. There are far too many renters here in Toronto and across our province who get surprised about the guideline rent increases.
00:01:34And my position has always been that it is fundamentally wrong that you as renters have to pay for somebody else's equity. It should be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain their building properly.
00:01:51And we also have a premier who, one of the first things he did, this is before he put on the Captain Canada cape.
00:01:59He removed rent control from all new buildings being built after 2018, which has not only made life more unaffordable for people, but the other challenge with that, as some of you already experience, is that when you don't know how high your rent can go up,
00:02:21it means that you're often feeling vulnerable to even complain, and rightfully so, about a problem in your unit. You don't want to be that squeaky wheeled.
00:02:31It takes away your ability to stand up for your own rights. And there are many more concerns that I hear from renters throughout our community and, frankly, across our city.
00:02:42And while, admittedly, the city of Toronto doesn't have the majority of power when it comes to landlord-tenant issues, it's covered primarily under legislation at the provincial level,
00:02:56there are some things that the city can do, and that's why a few years ago I led an advisory committee at the city of Toronto.
00:03:04We called the Tenant Issues Committee, and we created RentSafe, which is a part of a division that their mandate is to do audits in buildings and to be there for you when there are concerns about the health and safety of your building and your units.
00:03:23I will also say that there are many people who have said that RentSafe needs to be better. It needs better resources. It needs to forcefully ensure that there are real financial consequences for the worst landlords
00:03:39when they're not willing to make the fixes that you need. In other words, the city should just go in there and do it and then charge them afterward.
00:03:45So there's work that needs to be done to make improvements, and that's work that I'm committed to doing at City Hall under the new mayor and the new administration.
00:03:53John Torrey, by the way, removed me as chair, abolished the committee, and we're starting that up soon.
00:03:58Longer story, but I just wanted you to know that the work has to happen, and I'm committed to doing it.
00:04:03That all being said, though, none of the work that I do, I do alone. This is a team approach, and I work with partners,
00:04:12both at the city and the not-for-profit sector, who are our champions and are our advocates, and I want to introduce a few of them here tonight,
00:04:22who are, this is their time and their lives that they're committing to you, and I really am very grateful that they are.
00:04:31Yes. So we have here, from the Federation of Metro Tenants Association, Yaroslava Avila Montenegro, executive director.
00:04:50David, and I apologize, David, I'm going to work my way through your surname, and I apologize if I don't get it right.
00:04:56Yuday Yasurakaran. Is David here?
00:05:01Yes.
00:05:02Oh. Well, I hope I got it right.
00:05:07And I understand that your disease is going to be here as well?
00:05:11I'm here.
00:05:12Oh, there you are. Hey, good to see you.
00:05:13Hi.
00:05:14Baumgarten is also part of the FMTA.
00:05:18From RentSafeTO, from the city, we have Alana Ruiz, divisional engagement lead.
00:05:29From Acorn, Mayura Weiner. Is it Weiner?
00:05:33Yes.
00:05:34Where are you? Oh, they're here. Oh, right in front of you.
00:05:38Thank you, Alana.
00:05:41We also have, in the booths out there, the Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization, the Oakwood Vaughan Tenants Union, and Ontario Ranchers for Fair Housing.
00:05:51Thank you for being our advocates as well.
00:05:57And before we begin, I also want to just say a few words about each of them.
00:06:02You know, Alana is representing RentSafe.
00:06:05She's not, like, the one who runs the whole shop there.
00:06:08So I just want to tell you ahead of time that I agree there's many improvements that need to be made to RentSafe.
00:06:15But she's on the ground doing the work.
00:06:17And I just want you to know that if you do have some criticisms, throw it this way.
00:06:21She's doing the good work on the ground.
00:06:23ACORN is one of the great advocacy organizations in this country who are challenging every level of government to make life more affordable for tenants and stand up for the rights.
00:06:36And FMTA, I've been to, I can't tell you how many buildings throughout our community where we go from building to building to building to building to building, where there are tenants who are facing an AGI or another challenge.
00:06:53And we help them organize associations, effectively unions, for their community, which lead to both knowing the rights, getting funds to hire paralegals and fight for the rights.
00:07:05And then once they gather and organize, it also lends to a better community because then there's barbecues and all those wonderful things that, you know, socialize and lead to good health.
00:07:14Right. So these are great, great work that they do.
00:07:16And they also run a hotline that we help fund to inform people about what you need to know when you need to know it.
00:07:23So without further ado, I'd like to ask each of our wonderful panelists to just spend a couple of minutes and share the work you do and any other information you think would be helpful.
00:07:34And why don't we, why don't we begin with, with FMTA.
00:07:39Hi, everyone. My name is Yaroslava Montenegro. I am with the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations in Toronto.
00:07:58We are, we have been around since 1974. We are the oldest running Tenants Federation in, I believe, in Canada.
00:08:09So we are really proud to be able to be here tonight with you all.
00:08:13And as Josh was saying earlier, we have a variety of different programs in our organization that deal specifically with the needs of tenants.
00:08:23In particular, we have our hotline, our hotline counselors, many of whom are here tonight.
00:08:29I want to just shout out our staff, our staff member, Hena Niam Niam, who is in the back, as well with David, who, and also with anyone to see here as well.
00:08:42And again, we'll be happy to answer questions for you as well if you have any questions after the, after this presentation.
00:08:50So our hotline staff basically help tenants whenever they have a crisis or issue with their landlord and have a question about how to be able to deal with it.
00:09:01We know that whether it be an AGI, whether it be maintenance issues, whether it be issues with regards to tenants, any kind of other tenancy law.
00:09:10We are, obviously we can't give legal, legal advice, but we do give summary advice as to what best to do, what is the recourse to be able to take, and next steps to have to be able to, for tenants to be able to, to be able to take.
00:09:23And so, that's just one part of the organization. The second part of the organization is embedded in organizing tenants.
00:09:32And so, you know, we know that there are limits in the RTA, and I'm sure we're going to be talking a little bit more about what that looks like.
00:09:39For those who don't know, the Residential Tenancies Act, i.e. the RTA, is a provincially mandated legislation that, you know, governs the issues between landlords and tenants.
00:09:51And so, there are limits to the RTA, unfortunately, and there's not, like, there are rights for tenants, but then it's also a matter of collective organizing to make sure that we have tenant power in our communities to be able to push back against bad landlords.
00:10:08And so, that's the part of the organization that goes in and tries to be able to organize tenants to be able to have and build tenant unions, build tenant associations in a way that will be sustained in the long term and also be, you know, a building capacity in our communities for tenant advocacy.
00:10:28So that any of these abuses that come up, you already have that collective power.
00:10:34So that's something that we really, like, we're very proud to do.
00:10:38And so, again, like, growing up in this ward, not too far from here, you know, it's really personal to be able to be here tonight and be able to share that experience with you guys.
00:10:50So happy to be able to answer any questions in regards to tenant organizing and or tenant issues that may come up as well.
00:10:58So, thank you.
00:11:01And over to Michael from Acorn.
00:11:07Hello, everybody.
00:11:08So, my name is Michael Quadra, and I am the co-chair of Acorn of the West End Chapter.
00:11:15Long story short of what Acorn is, we are people.
00:11:20That is about it.
00:11:22Some of us are more informed than others.
00:11:25But the entire point of Acorn is that we are stronger together.
00:11:29We are wiser together.
00:11:32Because there are things, because not one minute, nobody knows everything, but everybody can know something.
00:11:41Alone, we can be deceived.
00:11:43Alone, we can be ignored.
00:11:45But together, that is when we can actually get things done.
00:11:48Now, the things that we have been trying to do for the last while,
00:11:52Amongst other things, the existence of RentSafe.
00:11:55We fought for that for years.
00:11:58I mean, personally, I have only been involved in this since January of last year.
00:12:03But we have been trying to tackle on NSF fees.
00:12:06We have, last year, we were in consultation with the government for a rent eviction bylaw,
00:12:11like how Hamilton has it, so that it becomes more difficult for landlords to try to kick people out,
00:12:18and then increase the rent of a place that they have just renovated.
00:12:24It starts with the little things.
00:12:26It starts with meetings just like this.
00:12:30It's with monthly meetings when people come together and say,
00:12:34This is the problem that I have in my apartment building.
00:12:37This is the issue that I have in my unit.
00:12:40There is a massive wall this big in my bathroom.
00:12:44I want to know what to do about it.
00:12:46And if not one of us in leadership, somebody knows something.
00:12:52Somebody knows someone that can get something done.
00:12:56The power of community is what we want to channel.
00:13:00The power of the people together, united, informed, is what we want to bring to bear.
00:13:10For everybody to know their rights.
00:13:13For everybody to know that they are not as powerless as people would want us to think.
00:13:18It is still scary.
00:13:21Don't get me wrong.
00:13:23It still requires bravery to want to stand up to landlords.
00:13:29To be able to say honestly that the problem that someone may have with their unit,
00:13:38I don't get heat.
00:13:40Or that there is no air conditioning.
00:13:43There was more than 50 rats that got caught by the exterminators and there are still more rats.
00:13:47Examples of those lines.
00:13:49Everybody has a little bit of power.
00:13:52But put together a lot of a little is a lot at the end of the day.
00:13:58I would encourage every single one of you that you already have done the first step.
00:14:05We are here learning together.
00:14:08You don't need to completely know what is going on in order to get involved.
00:14:13I may be up over here saying the words of encouragement right now.
00:14:17I may even say facts later.
00:14:19How about that?
00:14:20But I am not here up here alone.
00:14:22There is a research team behind me that tells me the facts.
00:14:26And likewise, likewise when we go out over there to challenge our landlords to do what needs to be done.
00:14:34You will have a community behind you.
00:14:37You will have an organization behind you to give you the facts that are needed to get things done.
00:14:43Amen.
00:14:44Hallelujah.
00:14:45That's beautiful.
00:14:46Thank you Michael.
00:14:47And Alana, if you could introduce your colleague as well.
00:14:49Yes, of course.
00:14:50From RedSafe.
00:14:51Good evening everyone.
00:14:52My name is Alana Ruiz.
00:14:53I am a Divisional Engagement Lead with the RedSafeTO program.
00:15:05Sure.
00:15:06My name is Jonathan Paquin.
00:15:07I am currently a supervisor with the RedSafeTO program.
00:15:10I have been with the program for just over five years.
00:15:12And I did start off as an officer on a management position.
00:15:16And I am here to answer questions on our enforcement procedures and any other questions you may have.
00:15:21So I'll tell you all a little bit about the RedSafeTO program.
00:15:26So RedSafeTO was established in 2017.
00:15:29We are a bylaw enforcement program.
00:15:31So we primarily, we deal with a few different things.
00:15:35But we primarily address property standards issues in apartment buildings that are three stories or more.
00:15:41And ten units or more.
00:15:43Those apartment buildings are registered with RedSafeTO.
00:15:46And they are subject to a building evaluation every other year currently.
00:15:51So if you live in an apartment building, it's likely been evaluated by one of our amazing well officers.
00:15:57And those apartment buildings are given a score.
00:16:01The score is publicly available.
00:16:04So you can look if you get one of our brochures with a cool QR code that you can use.
00:16:09Take you right to the website.
00:16:10You can look at what your apartment buildings scored.
00:16:12And then those that are scored, they all have a pretty little number that tells you how they were evaluated.
00:16:19Those that score within the bottom 2.5 percentile of buildings that were evaluated will be subject to a building audit the following year.
00:16:28So currently we are in the middle of our building audit season right now.
00:16:32So very busy time.
00:16:33That is when we typically go back to those properties that scored very low.
00:16:37We have a whole team of officers that go.
00:16:40They walk the buildings top to bottom.
00:16:42And issue property standards orders for all deficiencies that are identified during that building audit.
00:16:48That property standards order gets sent to the property owner.
00:16:51And they have a certain period of time to rectify the issues that were identified.
00:16:55The second part to the building audit is we also conduct door-to-door door knocking.
00:17:01So we engage with all of the tenants in the building.
00:17:03We invite them to submit service requests to us for issues that may be going on in their units that have gone unattended to.
00:17:10And we kind of do the same process.
00:17:12We have another, we'll set up a separate inspection date.
00:17:15And property standards orders will be issued for those deficiencies as well.
00:17:19The third part to the program is related to service requests.
00:17:24So that kind of takes place all year round.
00:17:27So the messaging that we like to give to tenants is make sure that you are submitting any issues that you are experiencing.
00:17:33Either in your unit or in the common areas of the building.
00:17:36Make sure you are letting the landlord know first.
00:17:38Putting it in writing.
00:17:39However their recorder process is.
00:17:41Make sure you're following the right process.
00:17:43Keeping a copy for yourself.
00:17:45If it is going unaddressed.
00:17:47Unanswered.
00:17:48Unattended to.
00:17:49Or just the issue just keeps happening.
00:17:51Contact 311.
00:17:53We will accept the service request.
00:17:55And a vile officer will contact you to schedule an inspection.
00:17:59And again, there's the deficiency found.
00:18:01They will issue property standards orders to be able to rectify the issue.
00:18:05And then take any further enforcement action as needed.
00:18:09Do you want to add anything?
00:18:12Yeah, so that's us.
00:18:15Yeah, we're looking forward to answering some of your questions today.
00:18:18Thank you very much.
00:18:19I appreciate that.
00:18:20So I really wanted to just make sure that the bulk of the time was for you.
00:18:29To answer or ask anything you want to ask.
00:18:32I just want to acknowledge a couple of people.
00:18:34One is the Verity Center for Better Living.
00:18:37Thank you for being our host this evening.
00:18:43And also members of my team including Samara and Sarah along with Sebastian.
00:18:49Thank you for your work.
00:18:52Oh, Jenna, sorry.
00:18:54Thank you for your work to put this all together.
00:18:57And also for what you're about to do.
00:18:59Which is to go around with the microphone.
00:19:01And identify who would like to ask a question.
00:19:04And make sure that they can.
00:19:06So who would like to go first?
00:19:08I want to be sure we get to everyone.
00:19:12So don't worry.
00:19:13You don't have to pick a number.
00:19:15Hi.
00:19:16Hello, Josh.
00:19:17Hello.
00:19:18I've asked this before, but I'm going to ask it again.
00:19:21In this community, we have a lot of seniors.
00:19:24And at every table I sit at, we talk about aging in place.
00:19:29Yeah.
00:19:30How are we going to make that happen here?
00:19:32I have come into this hood.
00:19:33I've been here six years.
00:19:35And I don't want to leave it.
00:19:37I appreciate your question.
00:19:38So you may remember when I was first elected, the first thing I did was initiate what we now call the Toronto Senior Strategy.
00:19:50This has been something close to my heart for many years.
00:19:54And I learned more over the years of a concept called NORCS.
00:19:59Yes.
00:20:00You know that?
00:20:01Yes.
00:20:02It's not work from work.
00:20:03It's the reason for the acronym.
00:20:05Naturally occurring retirement communities.
00:20:07Yes.
00:20:08And the concept is that we're an aging society right across the world.
00:20:13And more and more buildings are just seeing this organic congregation of older adults living there.
00:20:19So rather than having everyone go and find the services they need or end up in a long-term care home, which we saw during the pandemic, many of them are horror shows.
00:20:28And many of them are not places that we, some are better than others, but they're not places that all of us want to end up in.
00:20:34The question is, how do we make sure that whether you live in a building, a house, or wherever in a community, that you're able to realistically remain in your home to your very last days?
00:20:46So I moved to Motion and Council to actually explore that.
00:20:51And work is being done right now.
00:20:53I want to get ahead of, for example, all the redevelopment that's happening around us.
00:20:57There's challenges with all that, construction, all that, I get that.
00:21:00But there's opportunities too.
00:21:01For example, can we identify spaces where we negotiate with the developer to have more community spaces, more spaces for socialization, congregation, programming, if we get ahead of it, right?
00:21:15We need everything from health-related services to grocery stores where we don't have enough within rolling or walking proximity to somebody's home.
00:21:23In other words, it needs to be realistic to be able to remain at home.
00:21:27And then, of course, we need the support of other governments to make sure that we have everything from home care to hospice care at home to everything you need to do this well.
00:21:36So the answer simply is, it's complex, it's not going to happen overnight, but it's something that I understand has to be, like if we're going to design our society to be good and people to be well, we need to do that alongside reforming long-term care so that it's more emotion-focused and places that we actually, if we do need to go there, it's a place we want to be.
00:22:00Thank you for that, Councillor.
00:22:01Thank you for that, Councillor.
00:22:02I'm also with UHN.
00:22:03I work under Dr. Kwan with St. Mike's Hospital.
00:22:04He's such a humanist and I would encourage to get UHN involved in this because it is about bringing services to people.
00:22:26So, I know it's not going to happen overnight, but, Councillor, I lost my community once for 47 years and I can't tell you how hard that was.
00:22:35I don't have family and I've made a real family, especially with my church here.
00:22:39And, you know, us at St. Mike's and All Angels.
00:22:42And, yeah, I just, I want peace in my life, Councillor.
00:22:49Well, the two things I'll say to that is, yes, I do work with UHN, the New York Innovation Centre, and we work closely together.
00:22:57And, you are loved and appreciated and I always enjoy seeing you and you're an important part of our community.
00:23:04And, you always will be.
00:23:06You're welcome.
00:23:08Who would like to go next?
00:23:13Sorry.
00:23:14Before I introduce myself, I'm just going back to the last question.
00:23:19I know CARP is working with people staying in their home.
00:23:23Yeah.
00:23:24Especially in the apartment buildings where it's tri-generational and it's more healthy mentally, et cetera, et cetera, where you don't have to go wait for subsidized housing for years and years.
00:23:35Somewhere where you aren't familiar with the doctors or the stores, et cetera.
00:23:39Yes.
00:23:40So, I represent Ontario Renters for Fair Housing.
00:23:45We just started last year.
00:23:47And, our goal is we are, we feel there's power in numbers and we are gathering as many associations, ten associations in the province as we can.
00:23:58We've already got about 18, 19, probably about 60,000 people.
00:24:04And, we aim to go, we're going to London, Ontario, which is, Toronto's got 47% rental.
00:24:13And, Ontario, Kingston and London are the next ones.
00:24:17And, what we've been doing, we've been going to all the MPPs and the federal MPs and actually we've been getting a very good reception.
00:24:27And, we're talking to them face-to-face and explaining what's been going on here since Ford came in and did the Rent Patrol 2018 that he abolished.
00:24:38And, it's amazing the reaction we're getting.
00:24:40A lot of them don't even know what an AGI is.
00:24:43And, so, they are actually really receptive.
00:24:46And, I'm talking about conservative, liberal.
00:24:49Well, of course, Andy Boutila and people like that have been excellent.
00:24:53But, Lee Fair Cole now, who came in, she's phenomenal.
00:24:56Sylvia, who won against Bonnie Crombie, the conservative.
00:25:01She's been amazing with us.
00:25:02She's already making appointments for us to Attorney General of Ontario.
00:25:06So, we're looking around and we're trying to get as many associations to join us.
00:25:13And, so, I'm here to see if we can get more numbers in.
00:25:18But, it's the only way to educate them.
00:25:21And then, the fact that we have so many behind us, they're starting to look very seriously at us.
00:25:26And, they're calling us back, which is quite interesting.
00:25:29But, they don't know they're being lobbied by so many people constantly.
00:25:33And, their systems pick and choose who they want them to see.
00:25:36So, the only way to do it, rather than by Zoom or email, is to actually in their face.
00:25:42And, it's actually starting to work.
00:25:45Well, thank you.
00:25:47Like, thank you so much for, yeah.
00:25:49Thank you for taking the time to advocate and organize.
00:25:53You're actually right.
00:25:54Michael spoke very eloquently earlier about how, you know, when we rally together and we come together, we make a bigger difference.
00:26:01He spoke beautifully, didn't he?
00:26:02And, but, you know, strategically, you're onto something whether you fully know it or not.
00:26:11It's one thing when the NEP or the Liberals in opposition will tell Ford, you know, you're wrong or you need to do more or what have you.
00:26:20But, when his own members are saying, I don't know if I'm going to get voted in again if we're not listening to people, that, that will make more of a difference.
00:26:31And, so, the fact that you're reaching out and you're finding potential allies within this caucus, that is incredible.
00:26:37I hope that those who will privately tell you that you're on, that are on your side will say that publicly as well.
00:26:44Because that will also make a difference.
00:26:47And, you know, successive governments like Kathleen Wynne, at the end of her term, organized a review of AGI's.
00:26:57But then she lost. Nothing happened.
00:27:00The Ford government, I understand, I hear, is also looking at AGI's, but whenever he looks at something, it doesn't often get better.
00:27:07So, so we're, you know, we're waiting to see what comes of this.
00:27:11But the more advocacy that you can, you can be part of in working with FMTA and ACORN and other groups, that, that makes a difference.
00:27:19So, if any of you are affiliated with any groups and want to sign up and get involved, that's a great way to do it.
00:27:24Sarah?
00:27:25Can you just explain what AGI's are? Just, we have some questions.
00:27:30Can I take this one?
00:27:32You go for it.
00:27:34Let's, let's explain what acronyms are, for those who don't know this.
00:27:39Yeah, so, AGI, I'm sorry.
00:27:41Ah, oh, yes.
00:27:44Sorry, there we go.
00:27:45So, yes, AGI, sorry, I jump in on this stuff.
00:27:48The entire reason of my existence in ACORN is because of AGI's.
00:27:54So, AGI's stand for Above Guideline Increases.
00:27:58Long story short, they are how a landlord tries to get around rent controls
00:28:03and tries to justify bumping up the rents.
00:28:07And they can apply for, say for example, if they are trying to do something major.
00:28:14Say, ah, let's say they want to put dimming lights in the common areas.
00:28:24That would cost a certain amount of money to get the light bulbs, all the electrical work, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:28:29To make that all work.
00:28:31The justification for AGI's is that these things are good for the tenants.
00:28:36And they cost so much money, therefore the tenants must pay for it.
00:28:40And there's a whole load of things they can try to put on an AGI above guideline increases to justify,
00:28:48we need to increase your rent by this much percentage every single month so that we can pay for this big project that we did.
00:28:56Now, I have challenged AGI's ever since I became aware of them.
00:29:02Which I became aware of them because I got one and got very, very angry when I got one that effectively said
00:29:10that there were some repairs on the roof, that we tried making the building more energy efficient,
00:29:17and we did some work on the elevators.
00:29:22First off, the elevators still keep on breaking my apartment building, so I have no idea what the heck they did, not that great of a job.
00:29:30And then the energy efficiency stuff for lighting, well, it's in their best interest to do that anyway,
00:29:36they're paying less electricity, why do I need to pay for that?
00:29:39And then for stuff on the roof, if there's no roof, people can't live there.
00:29:45And then they can't pay rents, that's in their interest to keep the roof up and in good condition.
00:29:54So why do any of us need to pay for them?
00:29:57So that's what an AGI effectively is.
00:30:01It's a way to try to get even more rent out of us.
00:30:06Just to add, so above the guideline means that there's a percentage guideline each year for rent increases,
00:30:16and this, as you say, takes it above and beyond what should be allowable for, you know, questionable reasons.
00:30:23Who would like to go next?
00:30:24Sarah?
00:30:25No.
00:30:26Oh, you're already there.
00:30:27What is that?
00:30:28Can everybody?
00:30:29Okay.
00:30:30Yeah, you're on.
00:30:31You're on.
00:30:32Two HEIs.
00:30:33So, we have major, we've had major work on our garage for four years, would you say?
00:30:44About four years.
00:30:46I did a Freedom of Information Act trying to figure out who said that work had to be done.
00:30:55I've gotten no response, well, the response I have is that there is no information from the government.
00:31:01I found that a very frustrating procedure.
00:31:08So, I'd like to know how our building was mandated to have this work done because it was going to be like a Florida situation.
00:31:21We're concerned about an AGI.
00:31:24They've also done light work.
00:31:27I'm also aware that apartment buildings are supposed to have major repair budgets,
00:31:35and much of this stuff should come under it.
00:31:38So, I just, yeah.
00:31:42Who do I talk to?
00:31:44You're a slow movie dealer.
00:31:49So, AGI's are one of the number one things that, like, we deal with here at FMT.
00:31:54Also with, like, ACORN, I'm sure, gets the same thing.
00:31:58And AGI's are really something that, like, are plaguing across the city.
00:32:03I, myself, had to deal with one just very recently, also for a roof repair.
00:32:08So, the information that you can, number one, you can reach out to either our colleagues here at the table, myself at FMTA.
00:32:18We have a hotline service that you can call to be able to get more information about how to be able to deal with your AGI.
00:32:25If you're looking to organize, and if you already have an organizing, like, Tenants Association in your building, reach out to our organizer line.
00:32:36And I'm just going to pull up the number really quickly.
00:32:39Because that is where we actually go to the building, be able to have a meeting with tenants, examine, and be able to give us all the documentation that you have.
00:32:49We don't have the documentation yet. We presume that it's going to be forthcoming.
00:32:55Right.
00:32:56Because they have to finish the project.
00:32:58And in six months...
00:33:00But you should have received the AGI, you should have received the information by law.
00:33:06They're supposed to inform you of that AGI and all of the information that you need to be able to get for the AGI.
00:33:18Because it would have had to be passed on to the Landlord and Tenant Board in order for it to be a thing.
00:33:26So, for example...
00:33:27So, maybe I'm worried about that thing?
00:33:29No, no, no.
00:33:30So, for example, in the case of the AGI that I just literally went through, they have to give you disclosure about all of the things that they have done because it's something to be able to acclaim that they want an AGI.
00:33:46So, they have to give you evidence.
00:33:48They have to give you the evidence.
00:33:50They have to be able to give you all of the backing of what they've done, the receipts for them as well.
00:33:56And they're supposed to be able to notify the Landlord and Tenant Board in order to be able to have that be authorized as an above guideline increase.
00:34:07They can't just do it on their own.
00:34:09So, for example, we have a 2.5 percentage regular increase in rent.
00:34:16It cannot go above 2.5.
00:34:18Anything above 2.5, they have to make it to an AGI.
00:34:21But you, as a tenant, have the right to contest the AGI at the LTV hearing.
00:34:28So, if you haven't gotten that yet, you need to contact us and also probably a paralegal, and we can forward your issues to maybe a paralegal or, for example, one of the legal clinics in Toronto that deals with issues of that sort.
00:34:46So, yeah, feel free that we can talk afterwards.
00:34:49And just to make it easier for you about the phone number, if you look at the back, we've got our Tenant Guide that we put together to kind of make it all easy for you.
00:34:57And you'll see just on the front page, or the second page, rather, we'll have the FMTA Tenant Hotline, but also some of the legal services for paralegal support that you might want to contact as well.
00:35:08Because you'll have kind of some contact-specific questions about what you're facing.
00:35:13May I ask you, do you have an association in your building?
00:35:16Yes.
00:35:17Okay, good.
00:35:18Okay.
00:35:19Yes.
00:35:20The landlord isn't happy about it.
00:35:21Well, yeah.
00:35:22Sorry.
00:35:23The number for the outreach line is 416-413-9442.
00:35:28That's, again, 416-413-9442.
00:35:33Sorry.
00:35:34Just to jump on a little bit on your specific situation.
00:35:42I'm not going to go too much into it because, like has been said, to talk about your situation specifically in more detail.
00:35:50That's a more detailed conversation for after this.
00:35:53But to jump on something that was said, that they have to provide you documents.
00:35:57When you get an AGI, you have the, they are either, they should give you all the information up front.
00:36:05Every single receipt, every single order, every single justification and page that they are giving to the LTB, they have the landlord tenant board, they give to you.
00:36:17Because the entire point of it is that you can look at the receipts and challenge line items.
00:36:25And so you're going through hundreds of pages and trying to cross off as many things as possible.
00:36:32So at the very least, if you can't get rid of the AGI outright, you can get it lowered.
00:36:38It's always worth it.
00:36:39Yeah.
00:36:40So, so in the RTO?
00:36:46RTA.
00:36:47Oh, RTA.
00:36:48So the RTA.
00:36:49Residential tenancy now.
00:36:50You know, reasonable upkeep of, of, of building structures.
00:36:55Like there's, so like, it's, don't they fall short in reasonable upkeep and repair?
00:37:03Because it's been so extensive?
00:37:06This is part of the, when I was speaking earlier about the fact that the, the Residential Tenancies Act is important to have because then we have, we know the limits of what our rights are, but it does not go far enough.
00:37:20This is where, knowing the RTA is really important, but also knowing that it's also important to organize on the ground to be able to coordinate a response.
00:37:30Because, because unfortunately the landlord-tenant board does tend to side with the landlord.
00:37:37Um, and there's a saying, uh, at FMTA as well as, uh, the York Southwestern Tenant Union, um, that says there's the reason why the LTB set has landlord first is for a reason.
00:37:50And so, um, that's just something to keep in mind.
00:37:53So it's important to go through the legal steps, but at the end of the day, organizing is what's going to get you, um, forward in, in, in your tenant advocacy.
00:38:03Hi there.
00:38:04Thank you. Um, I think we've, we've covered a couple of my questions anyway, but, um, we have an AGI now.
00:38:12We haven't received any of the documentation I have phoned on several occasions and asked them.
00:38:18So now we can call you the, and, and get that, that information.
00:38:23Um, just one other thing I wanted to ask about with regard to the lighting situation.
00:38:30Um, does the provincial government, um, give any grants for, you know, improving green lighting and making it more effective to the landlords?
00:38:47Is there a grant that the government, that the progressive government gives, enable, to enable them to, you know, put these lightings in, to make it, well, it's not that better because the, the corridors are so dark now that you can stumble around on them and the lighting in the apartment is just glaring.
00:39:09But I just wondered if they receive any grants and why should we be paying for the lighting then as part of the AGI?
00:39:18So does anyone here know if there's a provincial government grant for that?
00:39:22I'm not aware.
00:39:23There isn't necessarily, it depends on what framework you're using.
00:39:26So for example, if you are, um, for example, if you have, um, uh, for green energy, if you have, like, uh, solar panels, for example, they could get a rebate for that.
00:39:39Oh, okay.
00:39:40But that, it depends on how they frame it, right?
00:39:43Um, so if there is green energy being implemented in your building, they might, they might, they might get a grant for that.
00:39:50Um, unfortunately, one of the things that we're also seeing, um, at FM, at FMTA is that sometimes these renovations that come, even with increased lighting, they'll still put onto the tenant, even though there are programs and things involved.
00:40:06So it would be worth looking into in terms of researching.
00:40:09Yes.
00:40:10Like whether, whether or not.
00:40:11I just thought you might have that information.
00:40:13And the other thing is, uh, part of this new AGI I understand is for, uh, new boilers.
00:40:19Now in 2016, we had an AGI for new boilers and we had to, you know, it was allowed.
00:40:27So I'm just wondering how many boilers can we continue to pay for depreciation over other years?
00:40:34And I also understood, or maybe I'm just imagining it, that if and when an asset is fully depreciated, that the tenants should be getting a rebate on their rent.
00:40:49And I've never known if that is true or if it isn't true.
00:40:55I just want to kind of answer that bit with my gut.
00:40:58Every single time that they do a renovation, any time that they do work on the elevator, any time that they are able to do, uh, work on the roof, any time that they are able to do new boilers, those are considered new assets.
00:41:15And then that fights depreciation.
00:41:18So I suspect, and this is a gut feeling, I don't know if this is a gut feeling, I don't know if this is a gut feeling, that all of these things that they do is to try to fight depreciation.
00:41:31So that if there is stuff like that in the books, that, that is voided.
00:41:35Also something that was said, uh, earlier, there was something that was said earlier that I wanted to jump on.
00:41:42I lost my train of thought though.
00:41:44Let me, let me, let me know if it pops back in your mind.
00:41:49Oh, sorry.
00:41:50Um, AGI's do expire.
00:41:53So there is, there is an expiry to when you get, uh, your AGI's.
00:41:59So for example, if you have multiple in a, in a row, say for example, 2018 to 2022, for example, for example, right?
00:42:10Um, so after 20, after the period in which you, uh, after the, after the period in which the AGI is done, you are actually at, I believe, uh, it depends on how long, uh, the specific, uh, uh, the, the, what's it called?
00:42:27The, uh, the specific issue that they, that they had dealt with, for example, a roof, for example, depending on the project has like, for example, at least a minimum of like 10 years, right?
00:42:37After the, after the AGI is done, you are eligible for a rebate.
00:42:41So again, um, so you, so if, if there's anyone who has existing AGI's, please make sure that you keep all of that documentation because you can then go to the, uh, LTV and be able to see when your, um, when your, uh, AGI expires to be able to get a rebate.
00:43:01And there's a whole process for that.
00:43:03So now I, now I, I just want to add something to be very clear about the whole process.
00:43:21Uh, don't listen to your landlord. Look at the legislation.
00:43:25Uh, they will put things on official letterhead. They will try to compel you, persuade you.
00:43:30They're not, they're not, they're not washing your back.
00:43:33So you want to understand what your actual rights are under the legislation.
00:43:38That's why we help fund the FMTA hotline.
00:43:43This is why we want to make sure that you have that information.
00:43:45That's why we want you to be able to access legal services.
00:43:48And if you have a tenants association, that's why we also have to find that the city,
00:43:52even though it's not actually our responsibility to ensure that you can access funds to hire a paralegal in many circumstances.
00:44:00As was said before, it's always worth the fight because even if you don't get rid of the whole thing, you can bring it down.
00:44:07But they need to make that argument to, to the board.
00:44:11And if you're there with, with your paralegal, you can make an argument too.
00:44:15Um, so, you know, just once again, and, and you're right, uh, keep documentation on everything.
00:44:22Also, I remember, you had a question about are there energy grants or green energy grants for, uh, lights and what have you.
00:44:31Uh, I am not so sure about that. However, unless I am mistaken,
00:44:36there is talk about trying to make such energy efficiency measures mandatory across all apartment buildings.
00:44:46Uh, we were having a meeting at ACORN about starting another campaign about this environmental policy,
00:44:52in which we want to save the environment. Don't get me wrong.
00:44:55But, we don't want the landlords to be able to use this mandate to then be able to do the, uh, green and energy efficient projects on apartment buildings.
00:45:08And then, through AGIs, force all of us to pay for it.
00:45:13Especially considering they are probably going to be getting other benefits for it.
00:45:19If they're saving on energy, they're spending less money on energy every month.
00:45:23It's in their, they are probably going to be saving money that way.
00:45:27And then, they're probably going to be able to get, uh, some sort of, uh, probably some sort of government incentive to do this mandate.
00:45:35I suspect. So, we're trying to make sure that, we're trying to make sure at ACORN that we're going to be trying to do this campaign.
00:45:41That, yes, we want to save the environment. Absolutely.
00:45:45But, it cannot come out of the cost of tenants in order to make that a reality.
00:45:52It's going to be incredibly stupid, but I figured my soul would give it a go.
00:45:57Ask for the reality.
00:45:58Yeah. So, I mean, one thing I got asked is, like, I already did this with the political leaders when they showed up at St. Michael's Church.
00:46:06Wish she was there, by the way.
00:46:09Hey.
00:46:10And, I'll probably ask you, Ken, are we doing anything to stop, like, rent increases from being a thing?
00:46:17Like, I know this is, like, a thing that happened 2018 over here, but this is, like, getting ridiculous.
00:46:22And I'm, like, on ODSP over here, and they barely pay me enough to get by into this.
00:46:27You kind of answered that, but I'm not entirely sure.
00:46:30Um, I'll begin, and then I'll, I'll invite anyone else who'd like to opine on that.
00:46:35Um, I mean, it depends what, what you mean by we, right?
00:46:39There are many of us, um, you know, I move motions and try to put attention on these issues.
00:46:43ACORN and FMTA and other organizations do as well.
00:46:46We heard from, um, the Ontario Coalition for Fair...
00:46:51Ontario Renters for Fair Housing.
00:46:53Ontario Renters.
00:46:54Uh, I just wanted to plug you again, of course.
00:46:56Um, there are people who are doing that.
00:46:59Um, what frustrates me to no end is that every election, all we're talking about is either
00:47:06a buck a beer or something else, right?
00:47:10And so we do need to, uh, at every provincial election, organize and organize more effectively,
00:47:17I would submit, on making sure that we turn everyone's attention to these kind of real,
00:47:22real issues that affect our lives.
00:47:24Uh, and I would also add, just saying that what, that we don't like something is never
00:47:29as good as advocating for what we want.
00:47:32So, for example, I moved a motion, uh, to take a position that rather than have AGIs,
00:47:40which again I say are fundamentally unethical, because you're paying for somebody else's equity,
00:47:47there should be like a, uh, like a 10% reserve fund, for example, like condo boards do,
00:47:52where if you own a property, the price of doing business is, it's paying for your property's
00:47:58upkeep, and you should, you should put a reserve aside to make sure that that's maintained,
00:48:03uh, rather than using AGIs, as Michael said, as a, as a fast way around, uh, uh, you know,
00:48:08the limits of increasing rents each year.
00:48:10So, um, but again, the fact that you're here, the fact that we are talking about these issues,
00:48:16is part of the organizing as well.
00:48:18Uh, did you want to add anything?
00:48:21Um, I think, I think, I said this before at the last, um, at the last tenant town hall, um,
00:48:27that we had a few weeks ago, but the, the issue, the, the thing that is the most important
00:48:34is to be able to build capacity in our communities, to build tenant power.
00:48:40It is the only way that they're going to, that landlords are going to listen to us,
00:48:45that the political class are going to listen to us.
00:48:48You know, I'm grateful to, to Josh for having us tonight, you know,
00:48:51and being able to have this.
00:48:53Thank you, Josh.
00:48:54Not every politician does that, but it's also, but it's also that we, as tenants,
00:49:01also have to build that power.
00:49:04And so, if we have that, then we're going to be able to build that capacity necessary
00:49:11to be able to say, hey, we have to, we need to, we need to have a seat at the table
00:49:14and have a fair, like, have, have, have our, have, have a fair, have a fair deal
00:49:19when it comes to the issues of tenants.
00:49:21Because the, the fact of the matter is, tenants are the ones that have to, you like,
00:49:26pay the price of having to have bad landlords.
00:49:29And there's very little recourse we can do.
00:49:31We can try and navigate as much as we can within the courts.
00:49:33And that's what we're trying to do on a daily basis.
00:49:36But we also need to organize off the ground.
00:49:38Yes.
00:49:39Absolutely.
00:49:40To answer the, to answer the question, what are we, huh?
00:49:43Pardon?
00:49:44No, go ahead.
00:49:45Oh, sorry.
00:49:46I was like, is the mic not working or something?
00:49:48To try to answer the question of what do we do?
00:49:51We as Acorn.
00:49:52A thing that we did last year, because there's, unfortunately, there's so many different things
00:50:00that go into how do we try to make life more affordable?
00:50:05How do we try to make sure that we can make rent?
00:50:08How we can actually live and feed ourselves?
00:50:10Even those of us that are working, that are not working, whatever our situation is.
00:50:14There's so many things that go into that.
00:50:16For instance, and the, unfortunately, the only thing I can say, we try to take things one step at a time, one chunk at a time.
00:50:25Last year, with Acorn, we were, we were in consultation with the government about passing a rent eviction bylaw,
00:50:32renovations being a process in which, say, I'm living somewhere, they want to renovate the place,
00:50:39and in that time when they're renovating, they boot me out, and when they finish the renovations,
00:50:44they increase the rent, let somebody move into the place where I was just living in.
00:50:49We have, we were in consultation with the government to try to make that sort of stuff,
00:50:54illegal, or at the very bare minimum, make that a lot harder to pull off.
00:50:59And one of the small victories that we can be, one of the victories that we can celebrate is the fact that that did get passed.
00:51:07And that it is harder for landlords to try to renovate a place, and then boot that person out,
00:51:15and then get somebody else to live in there for a higher price.
00:51:18We have it now that if there's renovations that are really necessary, that, and I'm saying in quotations,
00:51:25because sometimes they'll say that, like, oh, we really need to do these renovations.
00:51:29And if it really needs to be done, then it should be the right of the tenants to be able to come back to where they lived
00:51:37at the same rent, paying the same rent that they did before the renovations.
00:51:43And Hamilton, and we're copying a similar framework from Hamilton, but they did that in Hamilton.
00:51:49Suddenly there weren't so many urgent needs for renovations. How about that?
00:51:55Suddenly they didn't feel the need to renovate as much anymore when they were on the hook for trying to find a place for the tenant to live in
00:52:04while the renovations were happening, and when the renovation is done, that the tenant can go,
00:52:10the tenant has the first right to go back there paying the same rent as before.
00:52:15Does it completely solve the problem? No. It fixes a part of it. It helps a whole bunch of people
00:52:25that are under threat of that. I understand the frustration. Trust me, I do.
00:52:31Thank you. Thank you, Michael. And by the way, just to be clear, the government that he's referring to
00:52:35is not the government. It was the city of Toronto doing their job for them.
00:52:41Yes, Josh, I'm really happy to see that you are again working with tenants in a higher, in a more broad way,
00:52:52because we worked together many times, and I really appreciated working with you.
00:52:57Me too. I could say that you are one of the city councilors that really went there, out there for tenants,
00:53:03and challenged landlords like Achilles. You went, you called them, and you said,
00:53:09hey, what you're doing? Tenants are complaining. I think it's very good. In that spirit, I'd like to tell you
00:53:16that I'd like to see the city council really go against this, what is happening in the city now,
00:53:28that is perfectly good buildings are being destroyed, rent controlled buildings are being destroyed,
00:53:37for, to get towers in their places. And these towers are not rent controlled, and they're making a horrible city for us.
00:53:45So I'm clearly, like, I lived in the Eglinton area there, Eglinton and the Mount Pleasant, it was like this.
00:53:53They're destroying good buildings to build those towers. So I really appreciate to see you and other city councilors go against that movement.
00:54:05Do not take down controlled rent to build towers that are not rent controlled, you know?
00:54:14Thank you. So what you're referring to, we've been referring to as dem evictions. And the, you know, I explained to my colleagues,
00:54:28I actually spoke to this at a recent committee meeting at City Hall, that we have this debate in our society
00:54:35that we often refer to as NIMBYs versus HIMBYs. You know those acronyms? You know those terms?
00:54:40Not in my backyard, and yes in my backyard. Yes in my backyard means we have a housing crisis.
00:54:46Build, build, build, because we need more housing units. And NIMBY is no change at all.
00:54:52So these polarized extremes, sadly like most debates we have in society today.
00:54:57But then there are people that get lost in the middle. It's not about should we have more housing or not.
00:55:04As you said, it's about protecting the affordable housing stock that we have today.
00:55:09And so I agree with you that not only I'd like to see the legislation improved so that the city does have the tools to do that more,
00:55:21but we also need to be very, very vigilant about protecting Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act.
00:55:27What that does is that when there is a redevelopment of any building, that it ensures, and again, every legislation, every power the city has, has its roots as the province in the Canadian system.
00:55:43So we have this piece of legislation that allows the city that when there is a redevelopment, if you live in a building of six units or more that's being redeveloped,
00:55:55we can actually negotiate a deal where everything from moving costs to the gap between, let's say you've got to live somewhere for a couple years while they do the redevelopment,
00:56:07the gap in rent is covered by the developer, and you have a right of return to the new building at roughly the same rent you paid before.
00:56:15Those are rights under legislation that are being threatened by the four governments.
00:56:21And we need to be vigilant to protect that chapter of the legislation.
00:56:27So I completely agree with you, and I've personally been working with no-dem evictions on all of this. Thank you.
00:56:34Who's next? Yeah.
00:56:37I represent 440 Winona, and we have two issues going on.
00:56:41We just recently have an AGI back in November, and when we asked about the rent salvage, sorry, the rail salvage from our balcony, we did not receive it.
00:56:55And so when we did go to the rental tribunal, they just totally dismissed us.
00:57:03And so we got the bill, so it should have been reduced from the total cost of the amount that they were charging us, and that did not happen.
00:57:13I guess the question I'm asking is that even though we go to the boards, they're more in favour of the landlord,
00:57:23and we are out thousands of dollars because they took that broad honour, and they probably got salvage for it, and we did not receive that as tenants.
00:57:34So that's question number one.
00:57:36Yeah, yeah. First of all, I'm sorry that you and your neighbours have gone through that.
00:57:42And you're absolutely right that landlords will often have the upper hand at the tribunal.
00:57:48It's essentially designed that way. That being said though, it's always worth fighting, but you're right, tenants aren't always successful.
00:57:57Yaroslava, did you want to add on to that?
00:58:00Yes, I was going to say, basically reiterating the same thing I was saying before, which is unfortunately at the LTV, and again, my building also experienced this just recently,
00:58:13where we also had an above guideline increase, and it was so likely to go through, they didn't even give us a public hearing, they just gave us a written hearing.
00:58:22And so, which gave us almost no time to be able to get all the evidence together for the local landlord and tenant board.
00:58:30So I understand, and it does, it is really, really unfortunate, but the answer again, because we don't have those rights right now in the legislation,
00:58:42that does not mean that our fight ends there. We have to keep organizing. If you have a tenant, do you have a sentence association in your building?
00:58:49I'm the co- I'm the chair. Amazing, okay.
00:58:53Then, what we need to, maybe one of the things that we need to take back into our different organizations is to build a campaign based on AGI's,
00:59:02because we're seeing it everywhere. It is affecting every tenant in the city. And so, maybe that's, like, that's something I think that would be,
00:59:10we would need to be able to, so that we can build a broader capacity.
00:59:14I'm also part of a, an organ, a broad coalition called Fairbanks Ontario, who also is arguing for the, for the end of AGI's.
00:59:25And so, one of the, so I think we need to be able to build a broader based campaign against AGI's at the provincial level.
00:59:32And it's also important to realize where these powers lie, right? This is at the provincial level, versus the, the municipal level that is now dealing with issues of rent eviction and bylaws that are trying to be able to help tenants.
00:59:46But this is definitely one of those goals that we can build towards a broader campaign.
00:59:50Sorry, did you want to have a follow-up?
00:59:54No, there's another question that 440 is facing. Some of my tenants under human rights accommodation,
01:00:05housing accommodation for the AC, is being charged $400 by our landlord. I know they can't do that.
01:00:13But...
01:00:16Have you, have you, have you spoken with, with a paralegal about this? Have you spoken to a legal clinic?
01:00:22We have, we have done that, um, doctor's notes have been provided, but the landlord, because, you know, have, um, continued to, um, send my tenants these notices.
01:00:41$400 for the month of, I guess, every year, um, May, June and July, August.
01:00:49And what, and may I ask you, uh, we can speak offline if you feel more comfortable.
01:00:53Sure.
01:00:54But I just, I'd want to understand what legal advice you received and what options you were provided.
01:00:58They said that they can't do that because, basically, under, um, medical accommodation, under the housing, right, housing accommodation, the landlord has to accept that.
01:01:10Yeah.
01:01:11And so, the most vocal tenants that have spoke up for themselves, they don't get these notices.
01:01:20And the ones that are quiet, they continue to get these notices.
01:01:24So they're very selective with who gets these notices and who don't.
01:01:30Well, let's, um, I'd like to speak with you more about this and anything that I can do to provide you with any more support, any more advice, um, and anything I can even do to, uh, confront, confront the landlord in a, in a helpful way, um, I'm happy to.
01:01:48Yeah.
01:01:49I think, probably, the tenants may have the only option but to take it to the Human Rights Tribunal, which is a violation under the Human Rights Court.
01:01:59Yeah.
01:02:00That's their, absolutely.
01:02:01That's there for them.
01:02:02Yeah.
01:02:03And, by the way, thank you for your leadership in your building, too.
01:02:10Just a comment before we move on from your statement.
01:02:13I can say from personal experience, it's hard being the head of the Tenants Association.
01:02:18And you're doing a marvelous job just coming over here to advocate for those under your association to bring these issues over here.
01:02:26And to try to advocate for them as best you can.
01:02:28Keep up the good work.
01:02:30And it's my, me, myself, and I. And, um, when you start to recognize the dynamics of, um, the population where you're tenets, they just, um, a language is a barrier.
01:02:48Right?
01:02:49English is your second language.
01:02:52You're coming from war-torn countries, you know, Ethiopia, and so they're scared with authority.
01:02:59Yes.
01:03:00One of my tenants was charged $300 for plunging the toilet.
01:03:06Oh!
01:03:07No.
01:03:08And because they don't know the English language, they, you know, they need it.
01:03:14I have the receipts.
01:03:16And that, that is, that is why, as I said earlier, it's, it's not the landlord that we should be listening to.
01:03:22It's the legislation.
01:03:23But you are absolutely correct that not everybody, I mean, this is why we hold these meetings.
01:03:27Like, not everybody knows what the rights are.
01:03:29And you're right.
01:03:30There are people who come from places where, um, they understand that they're just supposed to go along with whatever they believe is the instruction.
01:03:37Um, and that's why we need, we need to get, get to those people and know, let them know that they're not alone and let them know that they, that they've got support.
01:03:47Um, and that's why I'd love to speak with you a little more later because if we can help you and your tenants or your, your, your neighbors, um, understand what the rights are, um, and challenge your landlord, I'm happy to do that.
01:04:00I'll give you like an example of something far less, um, maybe, um, awful in a way is what you just described, but nonetheless, uh, it had a real impact on the building.
01:04:13And it, this happens to, uh, renters right across our city every shoulder season of every year, where, uh, the city's had a bylaw for many, many years that, um, you know, limits how, uh, uh, cold, uh, uh, you're allowed to, uh,
01:04:30have your building. So it says you've got to keep, uh, the heat on for a few months. And, but as you know, the weather outside doesn't always correlate to how hot it is inside.
01:04:42And landlords will often just rest on that bylaw to allow their tenants to boil in their homes, um, and not make sure that they have access to whether it be air conditioning, uh, turn off the heat sometimes.
01:04:56Um, and there are also, I think, inane restrictions on even how wide we can open windows, um, which are not restrictions on condo owners, only tenants.
01:05:06So there's changes that need to be made, but we've got all those rules, all those laws. There should be a minimum temperature bylaw.
01:05:13There are things that I'm advocating for, along with Acorn. But until we get there, uh, sometimes we've got to be creative about how we advocate.
01:05:21And I literally showed up at that building with a city TV camera, put it in the face of the owner, and mad that they moved.
01:05:29They told, they told me the day before that they couldn't do anything, and the next day they miraculously figured it out.
01:05:35So, um, I'm happy to sit down with you, and if there's any creative way that we can advocate together, I'm happy to, to at least brainstorm with you and work with you.
01:05:45And if, and if, if there's anything that any one of us can do, I'm sure we will try.
01:05:50Uh, just, when you were saying that you, that you had tenants that came from Wartorfer, I feel that.
01:05:56One of the tenants, one of the tenants of my association, they are counting the months, maybe years that they have left, until they have to go out on the streets.
01:06:12And the only reason they do not speak out, Spanish is their main language.
01:06:18They came here, they came here from South America.
01:06:21And, when I had to talk to them, I'm not fluent in Spanish, despite my last name being Latino.
01:06:29So I understand when you, when you say that you have tenants that come from very different backgrounds.
01:06:34And that there are these awful, awful realities that we have to sit with those that we advocate for.
01:06:43That sometimes that they'll go, well, I've got, at this rate, maybe two years until I'm homeless.
01:06:51And it is awful to then have to sit across from them, and you want to try to say something hopeful, something optimistic, and struggling to come up with anything.
01:07:11Thank you, Michael.
01:07:12I just want to be mindful of time.
01:07:14We have about 20 minutes left for the question session.
01:07:17So I see you, I'm going to try to get to everybody.
01:07:20AGI in my building, I've got a number of tenants that I've managed to organize.
01:07:25This is not so much questions, but there's information for the rest of you fighting the AGI's, particularly with roofs, which has become a very popular theme for the AGI's recently.
01:07:33I find legal counsel, so the information I'm giving I've paid for, so hopefully you benefit from it.
01:07:38Those of you who have an AGI, the first thing I'll tell you is get a lawyer ASAP, because they will give you virtually no time when they give you anything in writing, as if they don't even do that.
01:07:48They will try to not give you the documentation, which has happened in my building, unless you sort of push, and I have paralegal pushing, where others did not.
01:07:57One thing you may not know, which I discovered through my legal fees, is that they are required to give you not only a copy of the justifying documentation when asked in electronic format,
01:08:08they must also give you access to the internet portal of the landlord tribunal, which is one of the things that the lawyer of Norfage did not do in my case,
01:08:18which got noted but didn't really count much, I don't know if it will count much in the merits here, even if you have scheduled.
01:08:24These are things for you to bear in mind. My lawyer had told me that when it comes to roofs, whether there's a situation, they may or may not get the valid permits that are required,
01:08:37because they will often just roll the dice and see if they have to pay the fine or not, but it has no bearing upon the landlord tribunal hearing, which I find rather interesting,
01:08:46and I don't know if the city government wants to sort of start looking into that, but apparently, according to my lawyer, a lot of landlords are not getting the proper tenant.
01:08:55I live in a 26-story building, and actually Mr. Battle had sent someone to look at the roof of our building, and they had said, thank you for that,
01:09:04they had said, there is no indication of any work that required a permit, and I quote.
01:09:09Now, 27-story building, I'm looking for a lawyer to tell me in writing that they have to have a permit to do that, but even if they do,
01:09:17it apparently has no relevance within the landlord-tenant hearing itself, as it's considered to be a separate matter.
01:09:23So all you can do is really, they can be fined after the fact, but they can still ask for the cost,
01:09:28because they've done the cost, whether it's done properly or not.
01:09:31These are things you may all want to be aware of, if you're getting a roof construction above guideline increase,
01:09:38because they may or may not have gotten the permits, especially if your building is more than three stories high.
01:09:43I'll do that.
01:09:44Thank you very much for sharing the work you are.
01:09:48Hi, Councillor Matlock. Thanks for having the session tonight. Thanks to the panel for your time being here.
01:09:57Over the years that I've lived in the neighborhood, I've taken two different landlords to the LTV,
01:10:02and they sided with me both times. But in both cases, I've run into an issue where the landlord has proposed a payment plan
01:10:10that was honestly absurd. The other guy just changed his email address, blocked my phone number,
01:10:17and I can't get a hold of them. The only address that I had for both of them was the address that I was renting when I lived there.
01:10:25So, my question is, what do we do? I mean, obviously the next step is I need to go to a small claims court,
01:10:32but what do you do when landlords just decide that, yeah, okay, the LTV side's with the tenant,
01:10:38but they can just ignore it and move on with their lives like nothing's happened?
01:10:41What's, yeah, what recourse do the tenants have for that?
01:10:44You're a sliver, can you? Thank you.
01:10:49So, they have the legal responsibility to be able to fulfill their duties according to the LTV.
01:10:55So, if they're, well, number one, I would definitely recommend talking to a paralegal or legal professional,
01:11:02specifically in regards to your case. But also, and this is also in regards to shady landlords who don't disclose who they are,
01:11:10who don't disclose, like, the name of the business, sometimes they're numbered corporations.
01:11:16I implore folks to be able to look into the Toronto archives to be able to see where the landlord, if you're in that situation,
01:11:25go to the Toronto archives and search for your address and then that registry will come up.
01:11:31So, making sure that it's a, I believe it's the Toronto archives that are recent because there's two different ones.
01:11:38So, you have to go in person to go to do, like, through their machines to be able to look up the address of the landlord,
01:11:44of the land, the specific landlord, or who owns the building that you are representing.
01:11:50But, yes, I would recommend talking to legal counsel because they cannot ignore mandates from the LTV.
01:11:57Thank you. Thank you very much. Sarah?
01:12:02Um, there's more, so I'm going to say, um, massive fan of FMTA, and they know that, you're going to see just out,
01:12:10hail up, for sure, fill up also, snap, snaps, uh, Joita, anyhow, and crew.
01:12:16Uh, massive Acorn fan, and, uh, also York, South, uh, Western Union.
01:12:23The one thing that some of us at OTVU slight have a disagreement of a statement, and the statement's a generalist, um, that landlord comes before tenant for a reason.
01:12:38Our position, that is slightly different, is it, is a broken system at this time.
01:12:45So, and the current way, post-lockdown, after pandemic, function of the LTV board, it is a broken system at this time.
01:12:59Unless you want to say it is working for very specific people.
01:13:06What I'm wanting to know is if something can be done on some of the large issues that people run up against in the current rendition of the system.
01:13:20Many people in this neighbourhood, myself included, we no longer have access to file something for our landlords,
01:13:30because they will not give us an address, they will not give us a telephone number, and they do not give us a contact.
01:13:37Some will say, oh, but you have an address.
01:13:40The people in my building who've gone to the address find it's a convenience store.
01:13:45And the people at the convenience store are like, what? We don't know, we don't know.
01:13:49Oh wait, rent? Oh yes, oh yes, we, you know.
01:13:52But other filings that go to their location, they just return to sender mail.
01:13:57And at landlord and tenant, when I did successfully find their lawyer and file it to their lawyer,
01:14:07the member said, well how did you figure out a way through that loophole?
01:14:11As if they were like, oh, that's really ingenuitive of you.
01:14:16As if the problem isn't that these issues are taking place and we are getting access to navigate them.
01:14:23So is there, real question, something that we have the capacity to do at a city level where that portion of the loophole is closed?
01:14:39Like you have people that you're renting to in the city and they should be able to have some means of your contact info.
01:14:48So if they're needing to file something because you are causing a problem in their tenancy,
01:14:54they should be having the ability to address the issue.
01:14:57Thank you, thank you for raising that.
01:15:00Next question, do you know?
01:15:04I don't know for sure, I'll be honest.
01:15:07I know that in my experience, what we have done in the past at some of our building audits as well,
01:15:12just because we do run into a lot of tenants that are kind of, you know, facing issues of evictions and things like that,
01:15:18and issues with the Landlord and Tenant Board.
01:15:20A lot of times I also refer tenants to the Housing Secretariat Division with the City of Toronto.
01:15:28I do find that they are a little bit, well, much more responsive than the Landlord and Tenant Board.
01:15:34You know, you're more likely to probably get a response because it is a municipal division,
01:15:38similar to like municipal licensing and standards, Toronto Water, etc.
01:15:43So that would be my recommendation, just to, you know, get a response and they're able to kind of support tenants
01:15:51and give you more information about your rights and kind of walking you through the process,
01:15:55be able to provide you with more resources, kind of about the Landlord and Tenant Board and things like that.
01:16:01Just a quick thing to add to your mind.
01:16:04There is a requirement for landlords to post on the Notification Board an emergency contact,
01:16:09which would include whoever you're supposed to call, property manager, superintendent, or the owner,
01:16:14and including their phone number.
01:16:16So if you don't find that on the Notification Board, and this only applies to apartment buildings
01:16:20that have three stores or more and ten units or more, so if it's not posted on there,
01:16:24or the number posted on there does not work, and you've tried reaching out to the Landlord,
01:16:27you're not getting any answer, please call 311, notify them of your complaint,
01:16:31and the officer will investigate and take appropriate action.
01:16:35Can you clarify something? We have the board, we have the address, we have the telephone number.
01:16:40The telephone number goes into a voice mail box, we'll get back to you, we'll get back to you.
01:16:45And in terms of the address, a lot of people from that building, a lot of the address, it is a convenience store.
01:16:52The problem is, if you now want to file something, the convenience store just sends the mail back.
01:16:58So, we have an address.
01:17:00I get what you're saying, and if I could just convey, like,
01:17:04I think I misunderstood.
01:17:05It's gotta be, like, if they're not putting accurate, helpful information to actually contact them,
01:17:10what is, what can they do, and what's the consequence?
01:17:13Contact 311.
01:17:15Okay.
01:17:16We will do our best to kind of get in contact, and we have our own systems and our own things
01:17:20to kind of track people down, and issue property standards orders and other documents
01:17:25when it comes to, you know, your communication with your landlord.
01:17:30To part of the, I, this is gonna pretty much be every single question that might come up,
01:17:38but what do we do?
01:17:40We fight within and outside of the current restraints.
01:17:46We fight within the system of what we can, and when we encounter bad actors,
01:17:52when we encounter rulings that go against common sense, against human rights,
01:18:01appeal where we can, and then whilst in the process of doing that,
01:18:08we pay attention to our counselors, we work together as neighbors when we can,
01:18:14we go to the meetings at City Hall, we vote, we participate in government,
01:18:21to try to change, to try to change the law.
01:18:26We have to fight within and without.
01:18:28We have to try to change the laws as we are trying to fight,
01:18:33with little exaggeration, bar our ability to survive.
01:18:37Thank you, Michael.
01:18:38And I just, I want to make sure that we fit in, uh, kind of a fire round here
01:18:41with as many questions as possible before the, uh,
01:18:44I'll be uber quick.
01:18:45Yeah.
01:18:46Uh-huh.
01:18:47Um, my concern is, you said earlier, you don't do buildings under ten units.
01:18:52And Josh, you said six units.
01:18:54Now, what happens to all these buildings around here where there's four units,
01:18:59or three or two, or we live in a city now that allows you to do three and four units.
01:19:05Who's going to protect those people?
01:19:07And what, what protection do they have that everybody here who's in a multiple unit,
01:19:12having all their neighbors with them as well,
01:19:15that these people in these small buildings have nothing, nobody protecting them.
01:19:19So, who's going to stand up for them?
01:19:21Yeah.
01:19:22Great question.
01:19:23Do you want to begin?
01:19:24Yeah.
01:19:25Um, so in order for a building to be registered with rent safe TO,
01:19:29they have to meet that requirement of the ten stories,
01:19:32or sorry, ten units and three stories or more.
01:19:34Um, however, the property standards bylaw actually applies to all, uh, properties in the city of Toronto.
01:19:40So, if there are residents that are living in smaller buildings, you know, where, you know,
01:19:44it doesn't necessarily meet the criteria for rentsing,
01:19:47you can actually still contact 311 if you're not getting a response from your landlord.
01:19:52A single basement apartment.
01:19:54Yep, exactly.
01:19:55And so, um, and they follow, they follow the same bylaw.
01:19:58It's a similar process.
01:19:59Um, you know, let your landlord know if there's no response,
01:20:02no answering, anything like that.
01:20:04Contact 311 and it just goes to another unit.
01:20:07Um, they deal more so with residential and commercial properties,
01:20:10but it'll, they'll take the same similar action.
01:20:12And, and, and just to clarify, when I said, uh, six,
01:20:16I was referring to section 111 of the City of Toronto Act,
01:20:19which is a different, a different issue.
01:20:21Uh, and I completely agree that that should be expanded.
01:20:24That should, I think that's an arbitrary limitation.
01:20:27Just to quickly add, uh, for the, there is also the MTH, uh, licensing
01:20:33that is now being enacted in the City of Toronto,
01:20:36which is for grooming houses that has, uh, up to four apartments, I believe, within a specific household.
01:20:42So there are licensing standards within the multi-tenant housing, um, bylaw
01:20:47that was, uh, enacted last year at the end of March.
01:20:51So if, and, and those, uh, like the landlord contact information,
01:20:56um, fire code, uh, safety, all of that needs to be put in a public place,
01:21:01uh, within that residence so that everyone can see.
01:21:04And, uh, there are strict regulations in terms of the licensing of that.
01:21:08So if you're at work, if you're curious about that,
01:21:10we also deal with, uh, multi-tenant housing.
01:21:13Um, and you can, uh, we can talk after that.
01:21:16Sure, thank you.
01:21:17Okay, uh.
01:21:18Hello, Josh, how are you?
01:21:20Hi.
01:21:21Good to see you.
01:21:22Well, we've seen each other for many years.
01:21:24Yes, indeed.
01:21:27One of, one of the first meetings was in this heating, air conditioning business.
01:21:31Yeah, yeah.
01:21:32When, because you were there, we had this CBC
01:21:34and we got full TV coverage and I became famous overnight.
01:21:37Yeah, that's right.
01:21:38But I have basically three, I think there are three questions.
01:21:42Number one, who was the actual mayor of Toronto?
01:21:46Do we have a mayor or do we have a premier who's the mayor?
01:21:51I get what you mean.
01:21:52Yeah.
01:21:53I get what you mean.
01:21:54Um, so, um, so let me shout.
01:21:57Uh, we also have Doug Ford.
01:22:01Um, I'm gonna, uh, listen, I could give a TED talk on this and I've got like three minutes,
01:22:08but I'll get, I'll make this nice and tight.
01:22:10Okay.
01:22:11Unlike the rest of the world, cities don't exist in our constitution here in Canada.
01:22:15So we have a system where our provincial governments can literally do whatever they want with cities.
01:22:21If Ford wanted to rename Toronto Ford Nation, he legally could.
01:22:27He could make Toronto a suburb or a borough of Mississippi.
01:22:31He could do whatever he wants.
01:22:32And unfortunately, he keeps, uh, intervening and disrupting and usurping local authority
01:22:39and local autonomy.
01:22:40And that's why I'm advocating for a city charter.
01:22:42I want Toronto.
01:22:45I want Toronto, uh, and other big cities.
01:22:50Eighty percent of Canadians live in urban areas today.
01:22:53We're very different than 1867 when the constitution was produced.
01:22:57Toronto and other big cities should have the ability to, uh, do everything from have authority
01:23:03over our revenue, our governance, including our elections, and, uh, the ability to plan
01:23:09and plan for communities.
01:23:11Communities that are planned with parks and social services and infrastructure and school capacity.
01:23:20And yes, affordability.
01:23:22Um, and meanwhile, we need to do everything we can with every power that we are bestowed
01:23:29with, uh, to fight for those, those values, uh, in, in, in between.
01:23:34And then hopefully in the next election, uh, we're not, um, we're not talking about buck a
01:23:40beer and we're not talking about Trump, but we're talking about Ontario and we're talking
01:23:46about Toronto and we're talking about supporting the people who live here and not allowing our political
01:23:51leaders to distract us with things that aren't really, um, the most important things that
01:23:57affect our lives every day.
01:23:58Um, I'll kind of segue into concluding the meeting by saying, um, I really appreciate, first
01:24:04of all, can we just hear it for all of our panelists?
01:24:08Um, I, I really, like, I appreciate you being here to support the community.
01:24:17I appreciate you taking time out of your lives to do so.
01:24:20And I, most importantly, I appreciate the work you do.
01:24:22Um, and everything we do, we work as a team and I'm really grateful, uh, for everything
01:24:28you do along with everyone who's leading and organizing other organizations and efforts
01:24:33to advocate for, for our communities.
01:24:36And, you know, the last time we held a tenant town hall, um, I remember my team came up to
01:24:41me and she said that she had spoken with a tenant who had told her that along with all
01:24:47the information that they received and, you know, understanding who to call and what to
01:24:51do, um, it was really important for her to know that she's not alone.
01:24:56And I just want to kind of reiterate that you're not alone.
01:25:00We are a community.
01:25:01We have each other's backs.
01:25:03And, yes, we don't have all the power in the world and the laws weren't written for
01:25:06all of us.
01:25:07But that's why, as my dad always told me when I was a kid, um, get involved in the
01:25:12system and try to change it from within.
01:25:14And as my mom always told me, you know, leave a place better than you found it.
01:25:17And that's what we're trying to do together and I'm really grateful to each of you.
01:25:20Thank you very much.
01:25:21.
01:25:22By the way, can we hear it again from my amazing staff who really put this together?
01:25:23.
01:25:24.
01:25:25.
01:25:26.
01:25:27.
01:25:28.
01:25:29.
01:25:30.