Canadian Voter
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Councillor wants to raise marina parking rates before they kick in
TBNewsWatch
33Does she ever truly think about the city’s residents who are being over taxed as it is. Maybe she can afford $210 a day for parking but I don’t know anyone who can. Is she trying to discourage people from using the waterfront.
12- Canadian Voter
New law makes landlords liable for drug activity, DSSAB awaiting clarity
TBNewsWatch 34The problem is not DSSAB buildings, its the lack of an effective Landlord and Tenant Board. It is next to impossible to evict a tenant in Ontario. Even when you are successful at the Board, the tenant's still find ways with the assistance of free lawyers and threats of Human Rights violations and tribunals (which incidentally are almost as hard for a landlord to win as an LTB hearing is for landlords to win.). Landlords do not get to have free lawyers represent their side. Most landlords in Ontario are either Public (DSSAB, Toronto Housing, etc) or Non-Profit, both of which depend on our tax dollars to keep their properties running. Agencies that provide free legal advise to tenants, should also be required to offer free legal representation to landlords. All of these decision makers who have no actual concept of what it is like in Public or Non-Profit units, should be required to spend a month or two working alongside these landlords before making decisions.
3- Canadian Voter
Passengers deboard aircraft after Punta Cana flight gets cancelled
TBNewsWatch 26Westjet is getting worse by the day…as bad as many thought Sunwing was, at least they got you to your destination. Since Westjet have fully taken over Sunwing, the prices have gone way up and the service has gone way down.
3- Canadian Voter
Hybrid vehicle burned in Normandy Court garage fire
TBNewsWatch 20It would be nice to know what make and model the car was and if it was a plugin hybrid.
4- Canadian Voter
Nine-storey affordable housing project proposed for downtown core
TBNewsWatch 20The problem with most of the apartment builds in the city are they are not affordable or rent geared to income unit. What the Gathering Table is attempting to do will have a positive impact for those who can't afford the extreme rents that many market rent landlords are charging. The goal here is to provide a dignified, safe place for people to live and provide supports to them as well. Bravo to all those involved, you are doing a great job, I truly hope you are successful in your mission.
2- Canadian Voter
Thunder Bay MPP backs call for audit of social housing units
TBNewsWatch 20Most housing unit when vacant require extensive repairs. Many have holes in walls, holes in doors, flooring, counter tops and cabinets damaged. These are things that must be repaired for safety reasons before someone moves in. If you are also dealing with energy up grades, or replacement of things that are at the end of their useful life stage, you can add to that. There are still supply chain issues and staffing issues to have repairs completed in a timely manner.It is not as simple as one person moves out and the next person moves in immediately.Ask any larger landlord they are all dealing with the same issues. Add to the burden that TBDSSAB are considered a housing of last resort, a large percentage of the tenants have been evicted from other landlords and end up with housing. They have been evicted for a reason, contrary to popular belief an evection is not easily obtained, even when the landlord can show plenty of cause for it.
2- Canadian Voter
Friday garbage collection cancelled due to snow
TBNewsWatch 2So we are to leave our garbage at the curb to get buried by the plows when they plow the street and or sidewalk? Are the garbage collectors going to unbury the garbage tomorrow when they are coming to pick it up?
17- Canadian Voter
Elevator outage leaves seniors stranded for hours
TBNewsWatch 16Elevators are specialized equipment, building maintenance workers are not allowed by law to work on / repair elevators, only licensed contractors who are registered with TSSA are permitted to work on and repair elevators. Once a maintenance call goes out to the elevator repair company, the building management have done all they can to facilitate the repair. Making it sound like building management is doing nothing, shows a lack of understanding in what they are legally able to do. If for instance building management were to get one of the elevators running on their own, and there was a sudden drop with the elevator and a tenant, visitor or staff member were injured, management would not be liable for any damages incurred but could also be criminally prosecuted for putting an unsafe elevator back into service without a licensed repairman.
3- Canadian Voter
Councillor wants to raise marina parking rates before they kick in
TBNewsWatch 17I should have said for a full day parking pass, I realize its not per day but to the end of the year. Again, most people who are making use of the marina, especially during daytime hours are families and seniors on fixed incomes. For most of these people coming up with $210 to pay for a parking pass even it if gives them 6 months of access is not easy to do.
2- Canadian Voter
Elderly woman 'not allowed to retire' from being a landlady
TBNewsWatch 17When she became a landlord 20 years ago, landlords actually had rights. Today the tenants have all the rights and there are landlords going bankrupt because LTB rarely give evictions.
- Canadian Voter
New law makes landlords liable for drug activity, DSSAB awaiting clarity
TBNewsWatch 16Are you willing to pay more taxes to pay the security to be on every floor in every building 24 hours a day. You have no idea how much DSSAB and Nonprofit Landlords are expected to do with very limited funds. It is not unusual to have units completely trashed and for it to cost well over $20,000 to repair. By definition these landlords are housing of last resort and as such have to provide housing to people who private landlords can refuse.
1- Canadian Voter
Canada Post restarts operations
TBNewsWatch 7I feel for the workers who are truly at the mercy of both their employer and their union. However, they have to realize the they have not earned any good will with the majority of Canadians by holding Christmas deliveries hostage. I know that most of my family members will not get their gifts in time for Christmas. Easy for the adults to understand not so much for the children.
7- Canadian Voter
Former tenant must pay landlord nearly $6,000 for damages
TBNewsWatch 13The sad reality is that this landlord will likely never see a cent of this. LTB has no method of ordering collection, they can give a judgement but then the landlord has to try to collect this. If they are unable to collect it on their own, they will have to go to small claims court and get a court order for collection and then place it with a collection agency.This is why most small private landlords are getting out of the rental business. At one time it was a great way to earn extra income for your family, not any more.
- Canadian Voter
Tenant evicted over 'dangerous and life-threatening' conduct
TBNewsWatch 12DSSAB did everything by the book to evict this person. The issue is with the Landlord and Tenant Board, who do no hold timely hearings, do not give timely decisions. In the rare instance where a landlord is successful in obtaining an eviction of a tenant who is causing issues because they don't bother to show up for the hearing, once they receive eviction paperwork, they get a free lawyer who then files for a stay and review, claiming the tenant wasn't reasonably able to participate.What truly needs to be overhauled in Ontario is the LTB, Landlords need to be given the right to evict for cause without having to go through a lengthy wait time to get a virtual LTB hearing. We have not had in person hearings in Thunder Bay since Covid, we have not had adjudicators who are familiar with our area since covid. We are essentially being held hostage to a system that is designed to work for the GTA and Southern Ontario, but Northwestern Ontario has no representation.
- Canadian Voter
BayFest cancelled
TBNewsWatch 6If the organizers truly wanted a multi-genre festival as they stated earlier in the year, they should have highlighted one genre of music on each day of the festival and bring in current, relevant artists of these genres. This would have given people the opportunity to go for a day of music they would enjoy and would have sold more tickets because you would be opening it up a lot of more musical tastes.
1- Canadian Voter
Two touring Broadway shows are coming to Thunder Bay
TBNewsWatch 3Went on line to see if I could get tickets for Come From Away, but so far you can only buy seasons passes, I'm not interested in seeing The Book of Mormon as I have already seen it. I am hoping that they will be allowing you to purchase tickets for just one of the shows soon.
- Canadian Voter
45 years after Terry, Darrel Fox makes his own stop in Thunder Bay
TBNewsWatch 2Fantastic that you have made it this far, hoping you get fantastic weather all the way to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.Just an aside to the writer and or editor of this article, Saint John is in New Brunswick, the correct name of the capitol of Newfoundland and Labrador is St. John's. Petty maybe, but if you are going to be a journalist at least learn the proper spelling of the capital cities of Canada.
- Canadian Voter
New law makes landlords liable for drug activity, DSSAB awaiting clarity
TBNewsWatch 2Have you ever tried to evict someone for damaging a unit. You can inspect all you want, but until you get an order of eviction from LTB and have it enforced by the sheriff's, you are not going to get the units repaired. I have personally seen units that are destroyed within a month of someone moving in and seen it take actually paying the tenant's to leave and on top of that agreeing not to charge them for damages just so that the unit can be repaired and rented to someone else.Nothing is as simple as you are trying to make it sound. If you haven't worked in the social housing area, you have no idea what the realities are and just how much the landlord's hands are tied because of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
- Canadian Voter
Tenant evicted over 'dangerous and life-threatening' conduct
TBNewsWatch 1DSSAB is not the problem, the problem is a landlord tenant board who makes it virtually impossible to evict a bad tenant, especially if said tenant is on ODSP. The province has made it the landlords responsibility to accommodate a tenant with a disability (including addiction or mental illness) to the point of financial hardship or bankruptcy. They do not make any allowance for the landlords responsibility to protect other tenants from a tenant causing safety issues due to addictions or mental illness.
- Canadian Voter
City delays launch of 'green bin' recycling program
TBNewsWatchMy recycling bin has not been put down to the street for pickup since we have had snow. It is too heave and too dangerous to try to bring this up and down the 14 steps I have to get to the street. I do not have a driveway at the front of our house, we park off of the back lane.So now I am going to be adding another large bin for garbage. How on earth do you expect someone who struggles with the recycling bin, to be able to maneuver a full garbage bin? Can i sue the city if i fall down over the steps trying to get these bins up and down?If the city is regulating these bins be used, then they should also pass a regulation allowing them to remain at street level, even if that means on a sidewalk or curb.
- Canadian Voter
