Press Hits

On July 14, London’s ACORN tenant organizing group held its first “Slumlord of the Year” awards ceremony, a mock award ceremony to call attention to what their survey-based data suggests are some of the city’s worst landlords. Their aim is to encourage the city to hold these landlords accountable. Over the past several months, London ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), a tenant advocacy group, conducted a survey of tenants across the city, gathering around 80 responses. Complete with tenant testimonials and bronze, silver, and gold “slumlord” trophies to give to landlords across the city, the awards ceremony called out those with the worst scores.

Canada’s Capital was struck down with yet another Summer heatwave this week, as humidex temperatures teetered towards 40 degrees Celsius. It is harkening back to several predictions from Canadian meteorologists, who predicted a hotter-than-normal Summer forecast. So what are the best ways to stay cool during these circumstances? What can our province or local governments do to help out? Hassan Youssouf, who leads ACORN’s Beat The Heat Campaign, joins Andrew Pinsent on CFRA Live.

Parlons maintenant de chaleur, parce que l’épisode se poursuit, cette fois dans le sud-est de l’Ontario, donc pour les régions de Kingston, London, Toronto.On a vécu le pire, le pire est derrière nous.Mais les avertissements de chaleur devraient être levés d’ici la fin de la journée, selon Environnement Canada, pour les gens qui nous écoutent à Ottawa et dans la région de l’Est ontarien. Reste que ce sera sans doute pas le dernier épisode de chaleur cet été.Et pour combattre cette chaleur, nombreux sont ceux qui se tournent vers l’art climatisé, un climatisateur.Un climatiseur, oui, pardon. Et selon un sondage publié par Statistique Canada il y a une semaine, 68% des ménages canadiens déclarent utiliser un climatiseur. Ce chiffre monte même à 83% en Ontario, soit 4 ménages sur 5. Alors, l’air climatisé est-elle devenue une nécessité? On en discute avec M. Édouard Roué.

Surrey has long had many affordable options for one-, two- and three-bedroom townhomes or apartment units for families, individuals on fixed incomes or new immigrants. But now, the older buildings are being redeveloped for condo buildings where the monthly rent is two-to-three times higher than what residents previously paid, says the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a tenancy rights advocacy group. In Surrey now, residents in 3,886 affordable rental units are at risk of “demovictions” due to their proximity to transit hubs and areas with high development, which is nearly 30 per cent of the city’s purpose-built rental housing stock, according to ACORN.

London ACORN members gathered at Victoria Park for a “Slumlord of the Year” award ceremony. The event is aimed at highlighting some of what advocates are calling “the worst landlords in the city. What we are really after is to protect our quality of life,” said Jordan Smith with ACORN London. “And our standard of living.” Many tenants said they are experiencing unsafe housing, pest infestations, leaks, mold and crumbling infrastructure.

Above guideline rent increases are the most “regressive” way to fund green retrofits in rental housing, a new report from Ontario ACORN argues. The report from the tenant union spells out how some landlords have used above-guideline rent increases (AGIs) to pass the cost of climate-conscious upgrades on to tenants and make a profit. “ACORN members agree these retrofits are needed and at a much greater scale. However, it shouldn’t be low-income tenants paying the bill so we can achieve our climate goals,” the report says.
The report looks at 16 applications to raise rents above the provincial maximum for rent-controlled units to cover the cost of energy and water conservation projects — including things like new boilers, windows and doors, lighting retrofits and common area renovations.