Would it be a good idea for municipalities to establish “landlord registries.”
On June 1 Hamilton city staff are beginning consultation to assist in developing recommendations and an overview so that “City Council can make an informed decision on if or how rental housing should be regulated.”
Why this Review could make a Difference to Tenants
Since 2007 Ontario municipalities have had the ability to enhance existing licensing. Some municipalities are starting to take advantage of this new power in order to address health, safety, and property maintenance issues faced by tenants.
Typically, such a registry would require landlords to obtain a license and maintain their rental property and building in good condition.
New By-Law in London
Earlier this year London Ontario put in place an enforcement program focussing on addressing substandard housing conditions in areas of the city known for deficient housing conditions. A plan to cover the whole city is in the works.
Considerable opposition to the London initiative came from property mangers and landlords. They argued that the regulation was another tax; municipalities already have the tools to inspect buildings; and that the cost of licensing fees will be passed down to the tenant.
Other Places, Other Approaches
Other cities like Ottawa are moving ahead with the backing of tenants’ groups. Oshawa was the first out of the starting blocks, however, it designed its registry to cover a particular section of the city where students are housed. This presents human rights issues.
Toronto has gone in a different direction. Last year the Centre of the Universe launched a Multi-Residential Apartment Building Audit and enforcement program that will provide inspection and enforcement action on at least 176 of the City's rental buildings in the first year of a pilot project. Toronto is doing this audit with existing resources. A fee of $60 per hour will be charged to the building for each visit after the second inspection until an order is completed to meet bylaw or provincial requirements
There are different approaches possible. It’s important, though, that as municipalities begin to look at developing these polices tenant voices are heard.
You can be sure that landlords will represent their interests.
(This is an edited version of an article that appeared earlier on the Hamilton Spectator's Poverty blog - No Excuses)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Get out of My Ward
We didn’t have e-mail back in the nineties so when I’d see the Ward 7 Councillor on my turf in Ward 8 I simply yell at him to get out of my ward.
This seemed very funny to both of us in those days. After all we were Councillors who served the whole city and ward boundaries were arbitrary and frequently adjusted as the city’s population shifted.
However, based on a small piece in the Toronto Star this past Friday such encroachments are now pretty serious stuff.
“Stop messing in my ward or there will be problems, Ward 18 Toronto Councillor Adam Giambrone e-mailed fellow Councillor Cesar Palacio of Ward 17.
Giambrone continued: “I generally ignore your actions, but I am going to start looking for ways to cause trouble for you and when I start you’re not going to appreciate it.”
Not surprisingly Palacio has complained to the City’s integrity commissioner.
My method from the nineties - just shouting - was probably as effective and didn’t leave a paper trail.
This seemed very funny to both of us in those days. After all we were Councillors who served the whole city and ward boundaries were arbitrary and frequently adjusted as the city’s population shifted.
However, based on a small piece in the Toronto Star this past Friday such encroachments are now pretty serious stuff.
“Stop messing in my ward or there will be problems, Ward 18 Toronto Councillor Adam Giambrone e-mailed fellow Councillor Cesar Palacio of Ward 17.
Giambrone continued: “I generally ignore your actions, but I am going to start looking for ways to cause trouble for you and when I start you’re not going to appreciate it.”
Not surprisingly Palacio has complained to the City’s integrity commissioner.
My method from the nineties - just shouting - was probably as effective and didn’t leave a paper trail.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Making Burlington Prosperous
During my lunch hour yesterday I had a terrific idea for boosting Burlington’s economic prospects.
It involves Oakville, polling and drive-thrus.
You see the Town of Oakville apparently has concerns about the negative impacts drive- thrus at banks and fast food locations might be having on their beautiful town.
So they decided to get input from the public.
I’ve made mine already – ban these environmental disasters - that’s what I say.
And if these out-of -touch Oakvillians – the fools – are taken in by a manipulated internet poll and really go ahead and regulate drive-thrus think what that could mean for our fine city.
Townies from the east will be flocking here in the thousands so they can bank on their backsides and roll up the rim without breaking a sweat.
It is called O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y. And with some innovative thinking we can really take this one to the bank. Think drive-thru funeral homes, weddings. The mind boggles.
Vote on the Oakville poll at www.oakville.ca. Vote early and often.
It involves Oakville, polling and drive-thrus.
You see the Town of Oakville apparently has concerns about the negative impacts drive- thrus at banks and fast food locations might be having on their beautiful town.
So they decided to get input from the public.
I’ve made mine already – ban these environmental disasters - that’s what I say.
And if these out-of -touch Oakvillians – the fools – are taken in by a manipulated internet poll and really go ahead and regulate drive-thrus think what that could mean for our fine city.
Townies from the east will be flocking here in the thousands so they can bank on their backsides and roll up the rim without breaking a sweat.
It is called O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y. And with some innovative thinking we can really take this one to the bank. Think drive-thru funeral homes, weddings. The mind boggles.
Vote on the Oakville poll at www.oakville.ca. Vote early and often.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Police Budgets
There was a day when, through a procedural quirk that I, a simple Ward Councillor, was poised to freeze the police budget.
This was when I was Regional Councillor and had for a year ascended to the lofty heights of budget committee member. (There were only four on the committee and that oddity presented the procedural opportunity, as I recall.)
Long story short: I had , of course, over rated my procedural prowess and the police got their money as they always do.
I was reminded of this today upon reading a report in the Stratford Beacon-Herald that notes that the small southwestern town of St. Mary’s is considering other policing arrangements after the police budget (for the OPP in this case) is expected to escalate by 82%. Mayor Jamie Hahn calls it “outrageous and unreasonable.” Other communities - Oxford County and Sarnia have similar issues according to the story by Laura Cudworth.
But the real story here should be:
POLICE EXPENDITURES OUT OF CONTROL
This has been the case for some time. For many reasons police budgets get measured by a different standard than other areas of the municipal budget.
Not to suggest there is a simple solution for municipal politicians. In fact, the escalating costs are probably beyond their control.
I drove like an undertaker for some time after my fifteen minutes of oppositional fame. To this day I bet there is no one who does the textbook perfect lane changes that I do.
This was when I was Regional Councillor and had for a year ascended to the lofty heights of budget committee member. (There were only four on the committee and that oddity presented the procedural opportunity, as I recall.)
Long story short: I had , of course, over rated my procedural prowess and the police got their money as they always do.
I was reminded of this today upon reading a report in the Stratford Beacon-Herald that notes that the small southwestern town of St. Mary’s is considering other policing arrangements after the police budget (for the OPP in this case) is expected to escalate by 82%. Mayor Jamie Hahn calls it “outrageous and unreasonable.” Other communities - Oxford County and Sarnia have similar issues according to the story by Laura Cudworth.
But the real story here should be:
POLICE EXPENDITURES OUT OF CONTROL
This has been the case for some time. For many reasons police budgets get measured by a different standard than other areas of the municipal budget.
Not to suggest there is a simple solution for municipal politicians. In fact, the escalating costs are probably beyond their control.
I drove like an undertaker for some time after my fifteen minutes of oppositional fame. To this day I bet there is no one who does the textbook perfect lane changes that I do.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Municipalities and Health Care
Battles to preserve health care are being fought in many small Ontario municipalities.
Residents and Councils are fighting the closing and potential closing of emergency rooms in their local hospitals.
Seaforth Community Hospital was reduced to a 12 hour operation early this year.
“Cutting ER services is a direct response to the financial pressures on the health care system,” says Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions OCHU/CUPE.
Hurley’s union represented 40 workers who lost their jobs at the Huron County hospital.
But this is about more than jobs. It’s about keeping our communities healthy.
In Petrolia the ER was “saved” in February after a huge public outcry and a threat by six doctors to resign if it was closed.
Meanwhile, in the nearby southwestern town of Wallaceburg the sparring is just beginning to protect the Sydenham District Hospital ER. Two hundred residents attended a first meeting. A rally in a supermarket parking lot planned by Save Our Sydenham (SOS) Committee will certainly draw a bigger crowd.
Fort Erie and Port Colborne are in similar predicaments. A resolution by Fort Erie Council calls for public election of all hospital boards and
legislative protection for rural hospitals More than fifty-eight Ontario communities have supported it according to Port Colborne’s website.
Many blame Local Health Integration Networks (LINH’s) for this development.
Queen’s Park “essentially established the mandate the LHINs are now carrying out. I believe that health care in rural Ontario is being systematically withdrawn. This is not acceptable and is a direct reversal of Premier Dalton McGuinty's own promise to us to protect the small rural hospital and their ability to serve..,” charged Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey.
All of us should be paying attention to how this plays out.
Residents and Councils are fighting the closing and potential closing of emergency rooms in their local hospitals.
Seaforth Community Hospital was reduced to a 12 hour operation early this year.
“Cutting ER services is a direct response to the financial pressures on the health care system,” says Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions OCHU/CUPE.
Hurley’s union represented 40 workers who lost their jobs at the Huron County hospital.
But this is about more than jobs. It’s about keeping our communities healthy.
In Petrolia the ER was “saved” in February after a huge public outcry and a threat by six doctors to resign if it was closed.
Meanwhile, in the nearby southwestern town of Wallaceburg the sparring is just beginning to protect the Sydenham District Hospital ER. Two hundred residents attended a first meeting. A rally in a supermarket parking lot planned by Save Our Sydenham (SOS) Committee will certainly draw a bigger crowd.
Fort Erie and Port Colborne are in similar predicaments. A resolution by Fort Erie Council calls for public election of all hospital boards and
legislative protection for rural hospitals More than fifty-eight Ontario communities have supported it according to Port Colborne’s website.
Many blame Local Health Integration Networks (LINH’s) for this development.
Queen’s Park “essentially established the mandate the LHINs are now carrying out. I believe that health care in rural Ontario is being systematically withdrawn. This is not acceptable and is a direct reversal of Premier Dalton McGuinty's own promise to us to protect the small rural hospital and their ability to serve..,” charged Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey.
All of us should be paying attention to how this plays out.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Food
Canada's first food bank opened in 1981.
Remember 1981? The U.S.S.R was the enemy, Exhibition Stadium the home of the Blue Jays and Eaton’s was a great place to shop.
The country, the stadium and the retailer are long gone. But the Edmonton food bank, billed at the time as a temporary solution, is still here and about 650 others have been added across our affluent land.
And it is getting worse.
A situation reported by the Belleville Intelligencer this week is illustrative.
The number of new clients at Gleaners Food bank (which serves the Quinte Region of South-Eastern Ontario) doubled this December over December 2007.
The number of food hampers issued this past January is up 43% over the previous January.
The Board is considering increasing the hours the food bank is open.
On Tuesday 240 dozen eggs came in. At closing there were only about thirty dozen left. There was fighting among clients.
On Wednesday a man and his son are alleged to have threatened staff. Police were involved.
Could this have been foreseen?
“We were afraid something was going to happen today because we had clients fighting yesterday,” Suzanne Quinlan, the Centre’s Director told the Intelligencer.
Now the Board, already struggling to meet client needs, has to consider adding security staff.
Carol Goar’s opinion piece in yesterday’s Toronto Star puts the food issue in context.
The average weekly food bill in Canada is $140 or 10.4% of income. If a mother of two on welfare:
“ spent 10.4% per cent of her income on food, as other parents do, her weekly grocery budget would be $25.14. She would have to buy a lot of bread, pasta, rice and other cheap starches and get whatever she could at the local food bank.”
Political Solution Needed
But food banks, a temporary solution, have reached their limits. I’m not stating anything new or profound when I say that people shouldn’t go hungry in this country; parents shouldn’t have to count on a food bank to feed their children.
There are political solutions to these matters. The Harperites aren’t interested. Their recent budget proved that. Let’s hope McGuinty’s government shows some leadership in their March budget.
Remember 1981? The U.S.S.R was the enemy, Exhibition Stadium the home of the Blue Jays and Eaton’s was a great place to shop.
The country, the stadium and the retailer are long gone. But the Edmonton food bank, billed at the time as a temporary solution, is still here and about 650 others have been added across our affluent land.
And it is getting worse.
A situation reported by the Belleville Intelligencer this week is illustrative.
The number of new clients at Gleaners Food bank (which serves the Quinte Region of South-Eastern Ontario) doubled this December over December 2007.
The number of food hampers issued this past January is up 43% over the previous January.
The Board is considering increasing the hours the food bank is open.
On Tuesday 240 dozen eggs came in. At closing there were only about thirty dozen left. There was fighting among clients.
On Wednesday a man and his son are alleged to have threatened staff. Police were involved.
Could this have been foreseen?
“We were afraid something was going to happen today because we had clients fighting yesterday,” Suzanne Quinlan, the Centre’s Director told the Intelligencer.
Now the Board, already struggling to meet client needs, has to consider adding security staff.
Carol Goar’s opinion piece in yesterday’s Toronto Star puts the food issue in context.
The average weekly food bill in Canada is $140 or 10.4% of income. If a mother of two on welfare:
“ spent 10.4% per cent of her income on food, as other parents do, her weekly grocery budget would be $25.14. She would have to buy a lot of bread, pasta, rice and other cheap starches and get whatever she could at the local food bank.”
Political Solution Needed
But food banks, a temporary solution, have reached their limits. I’m not stating anything new or profound when I say that people shouldn’t go hungry in this country; parents shouldn’t have to count on a food bank to feed their children.
There are political solutions to these matters. The Harperites aren’t interested. Their recent budget proved that. Let’s hope McGuinty’s government shows some leadership in their March budget.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Downtowns
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
OK, Petula Clark wasn’t singing about Ontario cities when she scored a big hit in 1974 with Downtown.
But why did that song come to my mind reading Ontario papers this week?
First, let’s look at Sault Ste. Marie, the third largest city in Northern Ontario with a population of 75,000.
Tuesday the Sault Star reported that Council had voted 9 - 3 (one member absent) to approve 42,000 square feet of office space outside of the downtown area.
Who cares, you say?
Well this approval:
1. Insulted the Official Plan.
2. Was uncalled for when about 500,000 square feet of available commercial space currently exists.
3. Was contrary to the Planning Department’s recommendation.*
Writer Elaine Della-Matta noted that those voting for the office space had their reasons.
One said “he's been shut out of (downtown) businesses because he can't get in with his wheelchair.”
Another Councillor noted it is “difficult to find large accessible spaces in the downtown area.”
And, finally, it was argued the downtown shouldn’t be sold short but the rest of the town shouldn’t be forgotten.
I’m thinking Mayor Roswell (who opposed the change) got it right:
"Council's decision tonight is going to change things. This is a major shift in where our community is going."
Meanwhile, this week the Intelligencer in Belleville (population 50,000) talked about what happened to their downtown.
Apparently when the Quinte Mall opened in the early 1970s “merchants were skeptical that it would take away customers but they soon learned the truth.”
"That knocked the hell out if us. "It was difficult. Some people thought it wouldn't hurt us," Charlie Kammer, a downtown merchant for 42 years told the paper.
Kammer remembers seven hardware stores and eight drugstores operating in the core.
Consultants have addressed the downtown problems says reporter Brice McVicar.
A revitalization program, co-ordinating the resources of various departments was suggested by du Toit Associates Ltd in 1980.
An emphasis on waterfront recreation, free public transit and a the placement of a banner near the Quinte Mall that would say something like "Experience Shopping in Downtown Belleville" was recommended by Alexander V. Crate Consultants in a 1984 report.
And in 1992 (Loughheed and Associates) wanted to close streets and develop an Apr.-Oct./ pedestrian promenade.
Apparently things are slowly improving. Mayor Neil Ellis believes “that downtown merchants are carving their own niche, rather than competing against bigger rivals.”
Belleville consultants: Check your Blackberries, the Soo’ll be calling soon.
*This raises a larger question: Why do we really need planners with their big salaries, large offices and strange vocabularies when we have politicians who can do the job. We’ll save this one for another day.
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
OK, Petula Clark wasn’t singing about Ontario cities when she scored a big hit in 1974 with Downtown.
But why did that song come to my mind reading Ontario papers this week?
First, let’s look at Sault Ste. Marie, the third largest city in Northern Ontario with a population of 75,000.
Tuesday the Sault Star reported that Council had voted 9 - 3 (one member absent) to approve 42,000 square feet of office space outside of the downtown area.
Who cares, you say?
Well this approval:
1. Insulted the Official Plan.
2. Was uncalled for when about 500,000 square feet of available commercial space currently exists.
3. Was contrary to the Planning Department’s recommendation.*
Writer Elaine Della-Matta noted that those voting for the office space had their reasons.
One said “he's been shut out of (downtown) businesses because he can't get in with his wheelchair.”
Another Councillor noted it is “difficult to find large accessible spaces in the downtown area.”
And, finally, it was argued the downtown shouldn’t be sold short but the rest of the town shouldn’t be forgotten.
I’m thinking Mayor Roswell (who opposed the change) got it right:
"Council's decision tonight is going to change things. This is a major shift in where our community is going."
Meanwhile, this week the Intelligencer in Belleville (population 50,000) talked about what happened to their downtown.
Apparently when the Quinte Mall opened in the early 1970s “merchants were skeptical that it would take away customers but they soon learned the truth.”
"That knocked the hell out if us. "It was difficult. Some people thought it wouldn't hurt us," Charlie Kammer, a downtown merchant for 42 years told the paper.
Kammer remembers seven hardware stores and eight drugstores operating in the core.
Consultants have addressed the downtown problems says reporter Brice McVicar.
A revitalization program, co-ordinating the resources of various departments was suggested by du Toit Associates Ltd in 1980.
An emphasis on waterfront recreation, free public transit and a the placement of a banner near the Quinte Mall that would say something like "Experience Shopping in Downtown Belleville" was recommended by Alexander V. Crate Consultants in a 1984 report.
And in 1992 (Loughheed and Associates) wanted to close streets and develop an Apr.-Oct./ pedestrian promenade.
Apparently things are slowly improving. Mayor Neil Ellis believes “that downtown merchants are carving their own niche, rather than competing against bigger rivals.”
Belleville consultants: Check your Blackberries, the Soo’ll be calling soon.
*This raises a larger question: Why do we really need planners with their big salaries, large offices and strange vocabularies when we have politicians who can do the job. We’ll save this one for another day.
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