Press Hits

A provincial advocacy group held demonstrations in downtown Moncton and Fredericton on Friday to call for an energy rebate program for low-income New Brunswickers. New Brunswick ACORN, which advocates for tenants’ rights, climate justice and fair banking, hosted the rallies to push for a low-income energy rebate program, a moratorium on rate hikes and a winter disconnection ban for residential ratepayers. The group is asking New Brunswickers to sign a petition that also asks for full funding of the Enhanced Energy Savings Program and an arrears management program with flexible payment options and debt forgiveness.

Tenants at a public housing building in London are renewing calls for London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) to fix persistent pest infestations, rotten floors, mould, leaky ceilings and other problems in their units. Thursday was the second time residents protested outside 85 Walnut Street — this time with a photo display they call “a gallery of horrors” to showcase the chronic issues in their units. Tenants say not much has changed since their last rally in March. The 232-unit building is geared to low and middle-income renters, and mostly inhabited by seniors. Many say they’ve had enough and shared their experiences alongside ACORN, a tenants’ advocacy group.

Yesterday, more than 20 London ACORN and community members held a gallery demonstration in front of London Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH)’s 85 Walnut Street apartment building. The event aimed to raise awareness regarding the safety and conditions of units in LMCH, which ranked second in London ACORN’s “Slumlord awards” last month. “There are a lot of issues going on at London housing buildings,” said Sharon Villeneuve, an ACORN member and resident at 85 Walnut Street. “A lot of pest control issues, maintenance issues, safety issues, and they’re not being addressed.”

Thursday’s demonstration is the second this year by tenants of the 200-plus-unit building west of downtown, who say for years now they have had to deal with pest infestations and other concerns that have gone unaddressed by the city-run London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH). “We’re not here to just be antagonistic, but we also have to stress that they’re not doing a good enough job,” said Jordan Smith, a local leader with tenants’ group ACORN, which helped set up the demonstration. “I appreciate that (LMCH) has a very difficult job, and I also appreciate, quite frankly, that they are underfunded. But this gallery the tenants are sharing is to show what they’re dealing with in their homes, so that the public can see and really put it into perspective . . . It needs to be fixed.”

The rental market across Brampton and Mississauga is agonizing—residents have long complained about the unsanitary and unsafe living conditions, despite significant demand for units. A survey of 257 tenants conducted by ACORN Canada (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), between May and June, revealed the disturbing reality many renters in Peel have to deal with. From pest infestations to breathing in mold regularly, poor ventilation in the kitchen and bathrooms, broken ceilings to damaged closets and unsanitized carpets, the litany of nightmarish scenarios was hard to fathom in a country like Canada.

When Nelda Giroux received an N13 eviction notice from the landlord of her west-end apartment building last summer, citing the need for renovations, she knew she had no choice but to fight it. Otherwise, she says, she would have ended up on the street. “At my age, I didn’t want to be homeless.” Residents of her building fought and won the right to stay in their building, joining the tenants’ rights group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The organization advocates for tenants’ rights and has campaigned for policies to prevent illegal renovictions – such as when a landlord issues an eviction notice, saying extensive renovations are needed, and then puts the unit on the market at a higher rent, whether or not the renovations have been completed.