Unlicensed group home operators face new health and safety violations
City officials have twice issued a threat to life notice at one Scarborough property caught up in a crackdown on Thursday.

TheStar.com
July 21, 2017
Jennifer Pagliaro

An operator of unlicensed group homes in Scarborough has again been found in violation of fire safety rules, putting vulnerable residents at risk, city officials say.

A threat to life notice was issued at a Rouge River Dr. home over fire safety concerns about the number of people living in the basement where there is only one exit. One person from that address and two others were relocated after city bylaw, fire inspectors and police officers descended on several suspected unlicensed group homes on Thursday.

The operators of Comfort Residential Group Homes and Drew’s Residential Services were charged with several fire code violations, property standards violations and zoning infractions, the city said Friday.

Violations include insufficient smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, cockroach and bed bug infestations and illegally operating as a rooming house.

This is the second time a threat to life notice has been issued at the Rouge River home in less than two months.

On June 2, fire officials found eight people living at the two-storey detached home where Comfort Residential operator Winston Manning also lives. A notice concerning the basement occupants was issued at that time.

When officials returned Thursday, the number of residents had climbed to 13, a city source said.

“Our focus is to make sure that all residents are living in homes that are properly maintained and in which personal safety is never compromised,” Fire Chief Matthew Pegg is quoted as saying in a city statement Friday.

The crackdown comes after the Star reported on an OPP investigation into the “deplorable” conditions in the homes that provincial health ministry officials ignored because there is nowhere else for the occupants to go.

The city’s municipal licensing and standards boss Tracey Cook noted in the city release the “significant amount of effort” needed to take the kind of action seen Thursday.

Manning, who rents homes and collects disability, pension and other income sources from residents who are elderly or have mental health issues, faces a growing number of charges for fire and property violations.

“I’ve been under siege for over 10 hours,” Manning told the Star by phone Friday. He said his computer and other documents were seized and said he thinks officials are looking for “something deeper.”

Manning said only eight people live at the Rouge River address, and several others had just arrived temporarily with “no place to go.”

“I feel bad about everything,” he said. “I don’t know why they’re on me like this every day. I guess because I’m breaking the fire code rules.”

Convictions under the Ontario Fire Code can result in fines of up to $100,000 or up to a year in prison. Planning Act charges can lead to a maximum of $50,000 in fines.

On Thursday, police stood guard outside a Fawcett Trail home, where several violations were found after officials interviewed occupants, seized records and scoured the property.

Fourteen people were living inside the tiny beige brick bungalow, a different city source said.

Michael Wyatt, 61, moved into the home near Morningside and Sheppard Aves. five months ago after he had a stroke. He pays $941 from his monthly disability cheque to the operators. For that he says he gets lousy food and shares a room in the basement with another man.

“There’s a bed, and a dresser and TV. We get cable. There was talk of us getting the internet,” Wyatt said outside the house having a smoke as rain began to fall. There is a full-time support worker who lives on-site, and the medication Wyatt requires is administered daily, he added.

“I don’t want to whine to you,” he said. “Let’s say it’s been a challenging few months.”

The OPP investigation focused on Manning’s operations but concluded there is a systemic problem throughout the province of people turning regular residences into homes for vulnerable occupants. The situation has arisen “as a result of the housing shortage in the GTA.”