PCAP Shuts Down Eviction Machine

March 20th, 2006

Forty people shut down the eviction machine known as the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal this morning at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources building in Peterborough. The Tribunal closed for the day and no evictions could be processed. This action was taken in support of the ongoing campaign to raise social assistance rates, to prevent evictions, and to change the so-called Tenant Protection Act so that it respects the rights of tenants. Housing Tribunals have also been shut down in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo. Tribunal disruptions also happened in Guelph and other actions have taken place in Belleville and Sudbury.

The Housing Tribunal serves as the Ontario government’s eviction machine. In 2005, 91% of all applications to the Housing Tribunal come from landlords and 95% of those were eviction related. 64,864 tenants were tossed out of their homes in 2005, an increase of 8.7% over the previous year. This number will continue to increase now that many welfare recipients have had their incomes drastically cut. Mike Harris created the Housing Tribunal when he was the Premier to make it that much easier to throw families out on the street because they can’t afford skyrocketing rents. At the same time, the Tories also cancelled rent control and cut welfare by 21.6% - causing a massive increase in the number of people evicted each year.

The Liberals were eager to bemoan the plight of the poor when they were in opposition, but since coming to power, they have made Harris proud. They betrayed their promise to bring back rent control. They back-peddled on their pledge to meaningfully raise welfare and disability rates and to end the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement. Their latest insult has been to slash the special diet supplement, which enabled OW and ODSP recipients to receive an extra $250/month for medically prescribed diets.

Over the last year, the Ontario Common Front has used this policy to access 40 million more dollars for thousands of poor people across the province. In conjunction with inflation, recipients’ spending power has decreased by 40% since the 1995 Harris cuts. Thousands of recipients were receiving some relief through the Special Diet Allowance until Minister Pupatello and the Liberal government reacted by cutting the program. Over the next few months, virtually everyone will lose the Special Diet, including thousands of children and people with major health problems. The restructuring eliminated such items as breastfeeding supplements and malnutrition, and reduced certain allowances, for example, a person with liver disease now receives a measly $10.

Members of the Peterborough Coalition Against Poverty, Toronto’s Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Belleville’s Tenant Action Group, The Kingston Coalition Against Poverty and the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Collective were are all present at the Tribunal. No one was arrested after employees called police. Not surprisingly, at least 6 police cars, the canine unit and upwards of 15 officers were quickly on site, ready to defend the rights of the rich and keep the eviction machine rolling.

PCAP, in cooperation with anti-poverty groups across the province, will continue to fight the McGuinty government until the rates are raised and legislation is changed to reflect the right of all Ontarians to safe and affordable housing, food security, and a livable income. We won’t allow the Harris Legacy to continue with business as usual while poor people are forced to choose between paying for rent or food.