Posted in Above Guideline increase, Building Maintenance, Capital Expenditures, Conservation, Electricity, Energy Conservation, Environment, Greening, Hydro, Infrastructure, Lease Agreement, Politics, Retrofit, Smart meters, Sub-meters, Utilities, tagged Building Maintenance, Capital Expenditures, Electricity, Energy Conservation, Environment, Politics, Retrofit, Sub-meters, Utilities on September 8, 2009| 3 Comments »
By I. Aagaard, Guest Contributor
A recent article (Smart sub-meters) on the EYTG web site made references to an issue that’s been popping up recently: Smart Sub-Meters in apartment buildings.
I agree fundamentally with the notion of this “Pay Per Use” way of holding each of us responsible for our consumption of non-renewable resources, such as electricity. (more…)
Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Bailout, Canada's Housing Policy, Environment, Home ownership, Politics, Seniors, Seniors housing, Tax breaks, tagged Affordable housing, Bailout, Canada's Housing Policy, Economy, Granny Flats, Home ownership, Politics, Seniors housing, Sustainable affordability on March 15, 2009| 5 Comments »
By I. Aagaard, Guest Contributor
Hi there:
I’m back! Me, with the previous Sustainable Affordability and MISSING: National Housing policy in Federal Elections! contributions. This time I’m here with a suggestion: That tenants collectively approach Ottawa and Queen’s Park for financial help so that we, too, can do our part in saving or creating jobs during these tough times. After all, if GM and Chrysler, to name a few, can get help from Messrs. Harper and McGuinty, then why can’t we?
Think about it! If our respective governments are prepared to help bail out big companies that are poster boys for a capitalist society, then (more…)
Posted in Activism, Auditing programme, City of Toronto Executive Committee, Landlord licensing, Landlord Licensing and Standards, Municipal Licensing, Politics, tagged Auditing programme, Landlord licensing, Municipal Licensing and Standards on November 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Department’s proposed auditing strategy was voted in (with some amendments) on Monday (10 November) by the City’s Executive Committee over the criticism and objections of tenants and advocacy groups such as The Federation of Metropolitan Tenants’ Association, The Parkdale Tenants’ Association, ACORN, The South Etobicoke Tenants Association, and the Parkdale Community Legal Services – Tenant’s Advocacy Division who wanted stronger, more tenant-focused regulation.
The new strategy will go into effect on December 1st, 2008. You can read the full recommendation, that the City’s Executive Commitee reviewed, here.
More later on what the new programme may mean to you and what you can do to help ensure that it is implemented well.
Posted in Activism, Landlord licensing, Politics, Toronto City Council, tagged Landlord licensing, Politics, Toronto City Council on November 10, 2008| Leave a Comment »
So, today is the day that the Toronto’s Executive Committee will evaluate and vote on a proposal for a new Municipal Licensing and Standards strategy.
As noted in earlier posts, it looks as if they will approve an auditing plan proposed by the department.
From a tenant perspective (and examined in detail in earlier posts) this proposal is little more than a slightly enhanced version of the status quo.
In earlier posts, we mentioned a meeting that took place yesterday afternoon to show support for landlord licensing – the proposal initially being investigated by the City.
This meeting was well attended (with approximately 40 people present, albeit mostly members from the organizing group, ACORN) and drew a camera crew from Global TV and two newspaper reporters. Three city (more…)
Posted in Activism, Auditing programme, Landlord licensing, Politics, tagged Auditing programme, Howard Moscoe, Jim Hart, Landlord licensing, landlords, Toronto politics on November 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Toronto city councillor, Howard Moscoe has done a complete about turn from his former support for landlord licensing (as weakened as his version was) in favor of an even weaker auditing plan put forth by head of the City’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Department, Jim Hart.
The new auditing plan will be the only fleshed-out proposal to go before the Mayor’s Executive Committee for a vote on Monday, November 10th and if passed, as is likely with no other real proposals on the table, would take effect on Dec. 1st.
According to The Toronto Sun, the auditing scheme would be ‘operated by a team of 12 MLS officers with a background in building audits — will proactively inspect 176 rental (private and social housing) buildings (more…)
Posted in Activism, City of Toronto Executive Committee, Escrow account, Events, Politics, Protests, Rent Control, tagged Activism, Events, Landlord licensing, legislation, Protests on November 1, 2008| Leave a Comment »
On November 10th, landlord licensing comes up for evaluation before the City Council’s Executive Committee. The Council’s attention to the issue comes after years of hard work on the part of Toronto tenants, through grassroots groups like ACORN.
It is likely that the Committee will pass along a landlord licensing proposal, sponsored by one of the city’s longest serving councillors (Ward 15: Eglinton-Lawrence) and Licensing and Standards Comittee chair, Howard Moscoe to the larger Council.
You might think that this would bring us one step closer to better housing and so a cause for celebration. But things aren’t so simple.
While the bill supported by Moscoe would
– require all city landlords (including the City) to apply and pay for licenses
– subject properties to regular inspections similar to those performed on restaurants and food vendors, paid for by the license fees
– allow the City to levy fines against bad landlords
one very important provision, a City-controlled escrow account, is missing.
The escrow account provision would allow wronged tenants to pay their rent into a City-controlled account, instead of continuing to pay the negligent landlord. The collected funds could then be used by the City to fix the problems with the units/buildings.
By in effect, withholding profit from landlords who don’t take care of their properties, the escrow provision would act as a punishment (no fixes, no rental income), a deterrent (maintain the property or have your profits withheld) and a solution (if the landlord won’t pay then at least your rent will go to bettering your situation). Escrow accounts are a standard component of successful landlord licensing bills in other cities and would be a powerful tool in the fight for good housing here in Toronto.
So, why doesn’t the legislation proposed by Councillor Moscoe include an escrow account?
The red herring explanation we are being given is that Toronto City Council is not sure whether under the new City of Toronto Act they have the power to create an escrow programme.
This explanation is laughable.
1) There does not seem to have been any investigation by City lawyers into whether setting up an escrow program is legal or not and no negotiations with the Province on how to accomplish this crucial portion of the legislation otherwise, even though the council has been grappling with the concept of landlord licensing for months and months now.
2) Even if we accept that creating an escrow account may not be kosher, the City has seldom hesitated to test its limits. The precedent has been to act or refuse to act as the case may be and to deal with challenges if and when they come. So why the lack of resolve on this issue?
We are left to conclude that escrow account creation has been left out of the proposals being considered by the Committee because the councillors, even the ones who supposedly are on our side and support licensing landlords, simply don’t want to include it.
And why should they? By voting for (crippled) landlord licensing without an escrow component they win twice; seeming to be pro-tenant but also keeping landlords (who are big contributors) very happy.
It’s this kind of slippery dealing that is frustrating to tenants who have been following the issue.
While Howard Moscoe basks in the glow of his supposed support for us, we know that if the legislation he is championing is endorsed by the Committee and later passed by Council, that we will only get some of what we’ve been fighting for and that it may be near impossible to add the escrow programme to the provisions later.
What to do?
First, contact Mayor Miller and the councillors on the Executive Committee to let them know that you are in favor of landlord licensing with an escrow component. Let them feel the pressure. Click here for their contact info.
**The news media in addition to councillors who have shown themselves to be pro-tenant in the past and those on the Executive Committee have been invited. We will be asking the councillors to publicly pledge their support for landlord licensing that includes an escrow programme. The gathering is being organized by ACORN Toronto.
The meeting will take place on
Saturday, November 8th at 1PM at the Main Square Recreation Centre (scroll down for location details)
The turnout on the 8th has to be large to impress on the councillors that we care about real landlord licensing. So, please if you are a tenant (and even if you are not but are supportive) come out, bring your kids, your friends, your neighbours, everybody so that we can make our voices heard.
MEETING LOCATION:
(245 Main Street, south of Main Street subway station and Danforth, just behind the Main Square high rise buildings and before the bridge over the railroad tracks).
Nov. 8th Meeting location on map
See you there!
Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, CMHC, Economy, Politics, Rent Control, Residential Tenancies Act, Tax breaks, tagged Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, CMHC, Economy, Maria Minna, Repairs, Residential Tenancies Act, Tax breaks on October 26, 2008| 1 Comment »
In Beaches-East York the incumbent Liberal MP, Maria Minna, is once again heading back to Ottawa to represent us. The East York Tenants Group congratulate her.
Now to the business of getting some concrete action from our newly re-elected federal representative and the newly formed federal government.
Although our recently re-elected MP is in the opposition, tenants in Beaches-East York have certain expectations with regard to alleviating hardships faced by tenants, who by the way, comprise a huge segment of the residential households in Beaches-East York.
In the weeks preceding the election we raised a number of important tenants’ issues, not least of which is ‘affordable housing’. Two of the main factors in realizing ‘affordable housing’ are: i) an adequate supply of rental apartment buildings and/or, ii) bringing back ‘rent controls.’ Several community groups and organizations have raised these issues time and again with politicians. The East York Tenants Group e-mailed political representatives at all levels of government (more…)
Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, Developers, Politics, Tax breaks, tagged Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, Developers, Economy, Maria Minna, Tax breaks on October 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We have less than 2 weeks remaining before the federal election on October 14, 2008. Many tenants in Beaches-East York are struggling to make ends meet due to rising unemployment and underemployment. We are about to experience a huge leap in our overall cost of living due to the downturn in the global economy. This means many tenants will find it even harder to pay market rents as the present economic crisis deepens. So why isn’t the issue of ‘affordable housing’ addressed by the candidates? Is it because ‘tenants are invisible’?
A closer look at the housing system put in place by the federal government provides clues as to why the tenant population has become invisible. Several decades ago the federal government put in place a housing program that distanced them from the thorny issue of ‘affordable housing’ for renters. The program focused more on the private market and the ownership sector. The responsibility for the rental market sector was downloaded to the provincial and municipal governments but that responsibility is (more…)
East York Tenants Group 