Advocates call on city to intervene to help residents displaced by fire

Thestar.com
Gilbert Ngabo
Sept. 20, 2018

Displaced residents of the St. James Town apartment building heavily damaged by fire and smoke last month are demanding the city intervene on their behalf and force the building’s owner to provide them with temporary housing while renovations are underway.

Dozens of residents and housing advocates from ACORN held a demonstration Thursday in the community, marching to City Hall from St. James Town and delivering a letter to Mayor John Tory’s office demanding an immediate solution to their housing crisis.

On Aug. 21, more than 1,500 residents of 650 Parliament St. were forced from their home after a six-alarm fire. Most have found their own accommodations with friends or family, but about 200 are currently sheltered inside the Regent Park Community Centre.

Protesters said they were especially upset that the owner of the building, Bleeman Holdings, is going ahead with an application for a new 51-storey tower in the St. James Town area as part of a broader revitalization proposal while displaced residents don’t have proper accommodations.

“The company has money to build a fancy condo building, but not enough money to house displaced residents who are now living in community centres?” asked ACORN East York representative Alejandra Ruiz Vargas.

“The landlord has a responsibility to accommodate their tenants, and this should not happen in a city like Toronto.”

In the letter, ACORN also asks the city to encourage the developer, which owns several buildings in St. James Town, to sign a community benefits agreement, which would include setting aside at least 30 per cent of the new development as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people.

Several attempts to reach Bleeman Holdings went unanswered. The Star also contacted Greatwise Developments Corp. and Bousfields Inc., two companies listed in the development application for the 51-storey tower and other revitalization projects in the St. James Town community. Neither of them responded.

Mimi Tesfa said she, her two young children and her mother have been staying with a friend since the fire. They are sharing a two-bedroom apartment with the host family, who also has three children. She called the situation stressful.

“Imagine sharing one washroom for nine people,” she said, noting it’s a matter of days before she’ll have to move again as to avoid being too much of a burden to the host family.

“It’s not possible for us to keep moving around like this,” she said. “At least the owner should talk to us, give us information and please find us a place to live.”

Don Peat, a spokesperson for Mayor John Tory, said in an email the mayor’s office has received the letter and is reviewing it.

He said Tory has been working with city staff and area Councillor Lucy Troisi to make sure the property owners and management understand and fulfil their responsibilities to the residents.

“(The mayor) continues to get a daily update on the situation to make sure the city continues to do everything possible to help the people involved,” he said.