Metrolinx under fire for the way it’s turfing tenants to make room for the Ontario Line

Thestar.com
July 18, 2023

On a storefront on the Danforth, beside several “closing” banners and ads for going out of business sales, there’s a small piece of paper with an email address directing tenants in the area impacted by the Ontario Line project to get in touch with a relocation team.

It’s one of the only signs that tenants in the neighbourhood may be affected at all by the multibillion-dollar construction of the Ontario Line.

Although Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing the project, refused to say how many will be impacted, the Star spoke with several area residents who confirmed they are being turfed from their homes to make way for the new train station and track work at Pape and Danforth.

Ontario Line expropriations offer less protection
It’s a situation more renters near the Ontario Line may find themselves in -- expropriation without the protection they would have in a more traditional situation such as a building being demolished for a private condo.

“The expropriations and the tenant evictions are something that has everybody very concerned,” said local councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 14, Toronto-Danforth). “I don’t think Metrolinx has a robust policy at this point.”

Once people are told they must leave, they’re understandably “extremely worried,” as are their landlords, “so it’s a big policy gap for Metrolinx at the moment,” she added.

Under the provincial Expropriations Act, the transit agency has the right to take over properties, buying them for market value from owners to make way for vital transit projects.

It’s not clear exactly how many tenants are being displaced, although there are several seniors living above the Olde Eton House at 710 Danforth Ave., which is being expropriated along with several businesses on the block. Though Fletcher did not have exact numbers of people who are affected, there are “second-floor tenants living everywhere on the Danforth,” she said.

Metrolinx refuses to confirm numbers
A Metrolinx spokesperson confirmed in an email that 710 Danforth Ave. “has been expropriated along with other nearby properties for construction of the Pape/Danforth station.” But the agency would not provide a full list of addresses impacted, or confirm how many tenants are being displaced “due to privacy concerns.” Metrolinx added it “will continue to offer assistance to both owners and tenants throughout the process through our tenant support program.”

However, the transit agency did confirm it would need to partly expropriate some adjacent buildings on Pape Avenue for underground access, and there are several buildings on Danforth Avenue beside the Eton House that have signs announcing businesses are closing or moving.

Three tenants in the area told the Star they were expropriated by Metrolinx, and given compensation in exchange for signing nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), which do not allow them to speak about the details.

Metrolinx said these “confidentiality clauses are a standard procedure for amicable agreements.”

Metrolinx’s use of NDA’s ‘egregious’
But Fletcher called Metrolinx’s use of NDAs “egregious,” and noted that under the city’s rental replacement policy, any private developer who displaces tenants for new buildings needs to provide them with appropriate notice, compensation and replacement units. It’s “a very public affair,” she added.

“I think the public entity needs to have a public policy that meets the standards that have been set over many years in the city of Toronto, about assisting rental replacement,” she said.

In the case of the Metrolinx expropriations, tenants are entitled to relocation as well as legal costs, with the exact amount up for negotiation, according to expropriation lawyer Jeff Goldstein. Recent settlements have included costs for the increased rent they’ll have to pay in a new place but that’s also not set in stone.

“That’s up to anyone to decide what’s fair,” Goldstein said. “There’s no objective answer.”

Al Burton, an expropriations lawyer who’s a partner at Thomson, Rogers, called expropriation “the ultimate act of government power.” He said the provincial Expropriations Act “seeks to place those that get expropriated in as good a position as money can do.”

Province’s new law makes expropriation easier
With the recent introduction of the Building Transit Faster Act, the provincial government made it easier for agencies like Metrolinx to expropriate land for major transit projects, including the Ontario Line, Goldstein said.

“With more infrastructure being built there’s going to be more property required all over the place,” Goldstein added.

Tenants can still appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal if an “amicable decision” is not reached, he said.

Metrolinx’s plans for Danforth a ‘great mystery’
As for what’s planned for any new space above the station and tracks, Paul Hamel, who lives in the neighbourhood and is part of the newly formed group Danforth Residents for Appropriate Development, said it’s still a “great mystery.”

So-called “transit-oriented communities” with mixed-use buildings have been slated for Ontario Line stations, but there’s a lot of unknowns about what they will look like.

“For the parts where Metrolinx has expropriated, they will be able to make the decision with no community input whatsoever,” Hamel said.

“It’s outside any control of the city, or the people who live in it.”