- 2 days ago
The volume was incredibly low, however I did not need to amplify anything (thought I needed to), the camera did pick up everything except a few parts where it was too low.
During the time I was putting together the video, the audio was only playing on the left speaker, so I tried to balance it out to no effect. The source files were the same. I can't figure out how this happened.
I ended up removing the camera first and holding it, then during the chants, put it back on the pole with the support piece and that was used the entire time. I got closer since the volume was so low, you couldn't even near it so much as 4 meters away. I blame whoever set the mixer incorrectly and the volume too low for this.
During the time I was putting together the video, the audio was only playing on the left speaker, so I tried to balance it out to no effect. The source files were the same. I can't figure out how this happened.
I ended up removing the camera first and holding it, then during the chants, put it back on the pole with the support piece and that was used the entire time. I got closer since the volume was so low, you couldn't even near it so much as 4 meters away. I blame whoever set the mixer incorrectly and the volume too low for this.
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00:00Before we get started, can I get a hand wave from Scout and Kate?
00:00:14Give it up, give it up, give it up.
00:00:23Scout and Kate, are you in the house?
00:00:25Scout and Kate, are you in the house?
00:00:27Can I get our marshals to make sure Scout and Kate are in the house?
00:00:32And neighbors.
00:00:37My name is Tiana Patavati and I am the co-chair of the York Southwest and China Union.
00:00:49We're here on National Housing Day to protest Bill 60.
00:00:53We're here on Tenant Rights!
00:01:02Every single renter in Ontario who has lived in their home for more than a couple of years knows in their guts that their landlord is just dying to kick them out and replace them with a higher paying tenant.
00:01:19And we're here today because Bill 60 is making it easier for them to do just that.
00:01:28Whether it's shortening the time to catch up on rents and getting stricter on even late payments.
00:01:34Whether it's shortening the time to catch up on rents and getting stricter on even late payments.
00:01:41Who the hell is getting paid on the first of every month? I'm not.
00:01:45Or whether it's forcing us to pay half of what our landlords claim that we owe before it's even proven for us to have our fair day in court.
00:01:58Or whether it's reducing our ability to appeal a bad eviction order like the order they send 10 million members over one fucking penny.
00:02:13Or creating a blacklist for tenants who have been evicted to make it impossible for us to find a new home in this city or in this province.
00:02:28It is abundantly clear that Bill 60 is nothing more than a direct pipeline from the LGB to the encampments.
00:02:43And you know, I didn't think the fourth government could get more shameless.
00:02:52There's no bottom.
00:02:54But I was wrong. There is no bottom for this government.
00:02:58There's no corner.
00:03:03Result.
00:03:13...our landlords to evict us by eroding our rights at the LTV.
00:03:18This government has the audacity to do it on National Housing Day.
00:03:23And on Monday, this Monday, this government is going to bypass the committee, bypass the democratic process, and force a vote on Bill 60.
00:03:40And we're joined today by several MPPs who are fighting to stop Bill 60 from inside that house.
00:03:51We're joined today by the Leader of the Official Opposition, Mara Stiles, and MPP Alexa Gilmore.
00:04:10And on Monday, we want to pack this house.
00:04:18This government was so powerful, they couldn't face the public.
00:04:34They're some champions. They can't face us.
00:04:36But when we are voting on this bill, we want to make them face us.
00:04:40And we want to pack this house because this is our house.
00:04:46Our house.
00:04:50Our house.
00:04:52Our house.
00:04:54Our house.
00:04:55Our house.
00:04:56Our house.
00:04:57Our house.
00:04:58Our house.
00:04:59Our house.
00:05:00Our house.
00:05:01Our house.
00:05:02Our house.
00:05:03Our house.
00:05:04Our house.
00:05:05Our house.
00:05:06Our house.
00:05:07Our house.
00:05:08Our house.
00:05:09Our house.
00:05:10Our house.
00:05:11Our house.
00:05:12But there isn't a politician, there isn't a premier, there isn't a landlord, and there isn't a bill that is stronger than we are when we come together.
00:05:24And by Tenet Union, we know what can happen when we organize. Unfavorable conditions. Even when the cards are all stacked against us.
00:05:46In the York Southwest and Tenet Union and Tenet Unions all across this province, we know that when we organize, we win.
00:05:58When we organize, we win.
00:06:02When we organize, we win.
00:06:10I want to now introduce Marva Burnett from ACORS. Come and join us and share a few words.
00:06:24Hello everyone. My name is Marva Burnett and I'm the chair of the ACOR New Gabriels.
00:06:32I see a lot of familiar faces in this country. When we were here, we know that the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government.
00:06:46That he is introducing Bill 16. You know, since that started, ACORN had held a meeting. When that was announced, 500 persons showed up to that meeting.
00:07:01In several days, we've raised 23,000 signatures to save every day.
00:07:15The co-party was smart, but I want to tell him, we as tenants, we have to watch where everybody goes, so therefore we are smarter.
00:07:25Don't try to secret these things in the back door. What you're doing is wrong. We want to set up code. Get a back code and stand up to the landlords.
00:07:37Why are landlords? Why are landlords taking advantage of all the tenants? And why is that code is down to them?
00:07:49I'm going to say, ACORN want to say, we're fed up and we're not going to take it anymore.
00:07:59You know, tenants, we've been organizing tenants a long time. And we, as tenants, need to realize the power that we have. There is nothing like power of the people. The people power is power.
00:08:17And when we stand up and we stand up and we start fighting back, then politicians have no choice but to stand up and pay attention.
00:08:29You know, we are asking for just a few things. We're not asking for a lot compared to what the landlords are asking for.
00:08:41We, all we asking for is to close the loops, the loopholes in rent control.
00:08:47We want vacancy control. We want them to restore in person LTB. And we want them to withdraw the eviction measures in Bill 60.
00:09:02That's all we asking. Is that so hard to do? It's not criminal, is it? It's just basic justice.
00:09:12We, as tenants, even if we want to stand there and let Doug Ford face us, that's why he's running, ducking and hiding as if he's a boxer. We don't know.
00:09:24He's shadow boxing in disguise.
00:09:26So now, so now we're going to say, our people united will...
00:09:36We are asking for landlords to get more inspectors, just to inspect our units so that we don't have the molest infestations.
00:09:51The road infestations. You know, we are just asking for simple things, but we can't get it. But the landlord could get Bill 60.
00:10:00We, as tenants, we're not giving up. And you know what? There is nothing.
00:10:19When tenants fight, you know what happens? When tenants fight, we win. When tenants fight, we win.
00:10:28When tenants fight, we win.
00:10:29Because you know what? If Bill 60 passes, you know what happens. So we don't have anything to lose.
00:10:35So today and tomorrow, we're going to stand up and fight back because we have nothing to lose. And we're going to say to Doug Ford,
00:10:44Not now, just, we'll win. Doncoming!
00:10:46A little from the bottle Dave steps forward in silence.
00:10:48Let's go.
00:10:59I need to đến. What's better when I speak like this?
00:11:02Yes, yes, yes.
00:11:04Or, or or or when I speak I讲 like thi'S.
00:11:06The other way, the other way, the other way.
00:11:10We're sticking with the microphone!
00:11:13Our next speaker, Jaroslava Montenegro, the E.D. of the Federation of Metro Tenants Association.
00:11:24Make some noise and welcome Jaroslava Montenegro.
00:11:26How's everyone doing today?
00:11:31When I say tenant, you say power.
00:11:38And working people across this province, we've seen the implementation of bill after bill,
00:11:46policy after policy that attacks municipalities, school boards, indigenous nations, and yes,
00:11:54tenants, poor shame, poor and working people are bearing the brunt of the affordability
00:12:03crisis that this government profits off of.
00:12:07We can't expect better from this government, which has attacked our rights as tenants from
00:12:13the very beginning.
00:12:15The first thing Ford did when he was elected was to eliminate breath control for buildings
00:12:20built after 2018.
00:12:23And ever since then, the Ford government has been lining the pockets of billions of developers,
00:12:31his buddies obliterating our communities in the process.
00:12:37Ford calls himself a man of the so-called people, but he's never had to worry about skipping meals
00:12:44to make rent.
00:12:46He's the one with the pen, signing and stripping our rights away.
00:12:51Ford is doing a full frontal attack on working people across this province.
00:13:00He is finishing the job that Mike Harris did 13 years ago with the so-called common sense revolution.
00:13:07Ford is nothing more than the shock doctrine of austerity.
00:13:13You're right.
00:13:14That neoliberalism, the ideology of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is a scourge.
00:13:19And it's coming for us.
00:13:21It's coming for our homes.
00:13:23It's coming for our kids.
00:13:24And it's coming for our futures.
00:13:26We can't let them take it from us because while Ford may have backtracked from ending security of
00:13:33tenure for tenants in Ontario for now, we know we cannot trust this government and sit by the
00:13:40sidelines to wait for the promise to end rent control.
00:13:44Bill 60 will be voted in next week, introducing insurmountable hurdles for tenants who are already
00:13:53hanging on by a thread.
00:13:57We have an exploding population of unhoused people in encampments across this province.
00:14:04This will only fast track evictions from the most vulnerable, including indigenous peoples,
00:14:10the elderly, migrant workers, pushing more people onto the streets.
00:14:15Shame that the Association of Ontario Municipalities has said 3,300,000 people could end up on the streets
00:14:27by 2030 because of this neoliberal austerity agenda that has crushed our public services
00:14:33and affordable public housing options.
00:14:35Shame.
00:14:36If Ford gets his way with Bill 60, he will make sure that these numbers are a reality for this province.
00:14:45The solution may not be in the halls of the provincial legislature today,
00:14:54but you can be damn sure that it will be found in our organization and our mobilization.
00:15:01I ran into a neighbor who was so torn by how bad Bill 60 is
00:15:06that all she wanted to do was give in the towel.
00:15:09That is a real danger.
00:15:10We cannot be heartened.
00:15:12We cannot give up.
00:15:14We have to keep organizing.
00:15:16We need to be organized in every single building, in every single block,
00:15:22every single neighborhood across this city, from the hills to the lake,
00:15:27from the blessed hundreds, across this province, and across this country.
00:15:32My, my, my friends, we will build tenant power, the worker power,
00:15:39and the people power we need to stop this legislation in its tracks.
00:15:45Together we are stronger, and together we will win.
00:15:50Thank you from the FMTA.
00:15:59We're going to switch over some of our sound equipment,
00:16:02so I'm going to need you all to help me make some noise.
00:16:08When I say tenant!
00:16:10Karen Andros of ACTO, the specialty legal clinic for renters in this province.
00:16:16I'm a lawyer. I'm a good lawyer. I only work for tenants.
00:16:27All right. Overwhelmingly, most Ontario tenants pay their rent in full and on time.
00:16:34But we are not hearing this from the government or the landlords.
00:16:39It is a profitable business for tenants.
00:16:41Tenants know this for landlords.
00:16:43Landlords know this, tenants know this, and the government knows this.
00:16:47The landlord is so insulated from risk, that you pay a last month's rent deposit,
00:16:54and you pay on the first of the month before the housing is provided.
00:16:59They have two months of your money before you get anything.
00:17:03That's right.
00:17:04Yet they complain, and we can't evict.
00:17:07I can't help it if under those circumstances they can't make that work.
00:17:11I can't help it if they're stupid.
00:17:17There is an obligation to pay rent, and if rent is missed, eviction happens.
00:17:24We all know this. Let me tell you.
00:17:27Now, they're telling us that there's 100,000 obligations at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
00:17:34What they're not telling you is that there are 1,000,000.7 tenant households.
00:17:39This is not a problem.
00:17:42This is a minuscule amount of landlord and tenant conflict.
00:17:47It is minuscule.
00:17:50Bill 60 is a slur against Ontario tenants.
00:17:53There are no problems for landlords in this process, but there are going to be problems for tenants because of Bill 6.
00:18:05Used to be, when I had brown hair, that if you were late with your rent, you'd get a notice after 14 days.
00:18:13Now, no landlord would go bankrupt if you paid on day 13.
00:18:18And it's been 14 days, I don't know, since I was a kid in school.
00:18:24Now, they want to change it to seven.
00:18:27More landlord and tenant cases, more backlogs, more delays, more court work.
00:18:33Tenants won't have the time to get the rent together.
00:18:37And as my colleague said, who gets paid on the first?
00:18:39You know, sometimes you get paid on the third.
00:18:43And there's no problem here.
00:18:45The time to challenge orders is cut in half.
00:18:48Same problems.
00:18:50Now, every sensible person in Ontario knows that we have a housing crisis.
00:18:55We have an encampment crisis.
00:18:57Yet this bill proposes to hire more, dog the bounty hunters, to put people in those encampments.
00:19:05And this bill is morally, morally reprehensible.
00:19:11Now, where has the just society gone?
00:19:14I remember Trudeau, the elder.
00:19:19And that's what he talked about.
00:19:21And what is the truth about what the real problems are?
00:19:24We're having a real problem with proof, proof these days in our political landscape.
00:19:28And we're talking about eviction, the homes of the elderly, the disabled, children.
00:19:36It is unbelievably immoral what they are proposing for a small group of whining, greedy landlords.
00:19:46The government needs to be held account for this unfair, unwarranted, and unjust bill.
00:19:54And if you take one thing away from what I say, Doug Ford, two four-letter words.
00:20:00All right, so Karen didn't want to say it, but I think there's a lot of people right here.
00:20:13What four words did we want to tell Doug Ford?
00:20:17Doug Ford!
00:20:19All right, I would now also like to acknowledge that MPP Mike Schreiner is also here, who has been fighting against Bill 60, also in the House.
00:20:31I'd now like to introduce Laura and Michelle from Don Valley Community Legal Services.
00:20:46Hi, my name is Michelle Chah, and I'm a housing lawyer also in Toronto, and hopefully one of the good lawyers out there.
00:20:57I'm Laura Nonan, I'm a community development worker at Don Valley Community Legal Services as well.
00:21:05So we work at Don Valley Community Legal Services, a community legal clinic in Toronto's East End.
00:21:11Legal clinics are on the front lines, helping people in very dire situations.
00:21:15We help vulnerable and low-income community members, many facing eviction.
00:21:21We receive over a thousand calls on our intake line each month.
00:21:25Over one-third of the cases at our legal clinic are housing cases, and this number keeps growing.
00:21:31Bill 60 will impact renters and will make it harder for us to help our clients.
00:21:35We're already at capacity at our legal clinic, and we're extremely concerned about how we will be able to help people facing eviction if this bill is passed.
00:21:45The ramifications of Bill 60 will result in people and families losing their sustainable, safe and affordable rental units.
00:21:52We would like to share a story about one of our clients who would have lost her home had Bill 60 been in effect.
00:21:59She was a single mother and a survivor of intimate partner violence.
00:22:03She had fallen into arrears and missed her eviction hearing due to ongoing financial and litigation abuse from the person causing harm.
00:22:10She was able to save her tenancy because of the 30-day timeline she had to get legal help and complete her request to review of the eviction order.
00:22:20This gave her much-needed time to seek and receive rent assistance and set up a rent payment plan with her social assistance program.
00:22:28This would not have been possible had Bill 60 been in effect, because those valuable 30 days would have been cut in half.
00:22:40And while some may think that reducing timelines will help reduce the backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board,
00:22:47in actuality it will reduce people's ability to seek out legal help,
00:22:51and it will destroy people's ability across this province to achieve long-term sustainable housing.
00:23:00Instead of implementing measures that would actually fix the Landlord and Tenant Board,
00:23:04that would actually help keep renters in their homes and not increase homelessness,
00:23:09this government is fast-tracking evictions through this bill.
00:23:12We need full rent control and vacancy control.
00:23:18We have been asking for this for years.
00:23:22We need to bring back in-person hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
00:23:26We need stronger protections to preserve the affordable housing we currently have,
00:23:31because we cannot build our way out of this.
00:23:33If they actually cared, they would have consulted the legal clinics.
00:23:40They would have talked to tenants.
00:23:42They have made it clear they do not care about renters or our right to housing.
00:23:50We also want to call attention to security of tenure.
00:23:53Although the Ford government said, now is not the time,
00:23:57it doesn't mean they won't come after it in the future.
00:24:00We say hands off our right to a safe and secure home.
00:24:06We need to ensure they never come after lease agreements in the future.
00:24:11We need to keep up this fight if this bill is passed on Monday.
00:24:15And we need to keep this momentum going.
00:24:17The Residential Tenancies Act is meant to protect tenants.
00:24:21We can't stay silent while they dismantle it.
00:24:23Thanks for joining us, and let's keep fighting together.
00:24:34Give it up for our legal clinic system, folks.
00:24:40I want to remind everyone that right after the COVID pandemic, instead of helping tenants,
00:24:46Doug Ford passed another bill to attack tenants that cut funding to our legal clinics,
00:24:52and made it hell of a lot easier to evict people without even a hearing.
00:24:59And yet that still wasn't good enough.
00:25:00And here we are today, fighting Bill 60.
00:25:03I'd like to now introduce Lindsey and Megan from No Dev Evictions.
00:25:09Give it up for No Dev Evictions!
00:25:10Having dealt with our fair share of corporate landlords, we are all too familiar with the kind
00:25:21of messaging, rhetoric, and language that they use to justify legislation like Bill 60.
00:25:28I'm going to just share a couple of the comments and messages that we've received since becoming
00:25:33public with our opposition to Bill 60.
00:25:36Quote, landlords don't owe anyone subsidized housing.
00:25:41Quote, if you think landlords are evil, don't rent from them and just buy a tent.
00:25:46And my personal favorite quote, I myself believe that tenants have way too many rights.
00:25:57These sentiments are from the same people who continue to push the idea that the only solution
00:26:03for fixing the housing crisis is to build more for-profit supply.
00:26:07It is a one-dimensional approach that conveniently supports cutting regulation for developers
00:26:16and landlords and coming after rights and protections for renters.
00:26:23But for corporate landlords and developers, this is not a housing crisis.
00:26:27This is a business model and it is an incredibly lucrative one.
00:26:32Across Ontario, corporate landlords are buying up older, more affordable buildings.
00:26:38They are evicting long-term tenants.
00:26:40They are jacking up rents and they are calling it professional management.
00:26:46For them, it is business as usual.
00:26:52But they shouldn't be praised for altruistically providing housing
00:26:57when what they're really doing is strip mining our communities for quarterly returns.
00:27:06They want to evict tenants in order to grow their investment portfolios.
00:27:11Bill 60 was created by them and for them.
00:27:19Landlord lobbyists like FERPO, BUILD and SOLO are all in favor of Bill 60.
00:27:25In fact, they stood side by side with the Minister and Premier as they announced Bill 60.
00:27:31And we know that Bill 60 will be devastating for renters across Ontario.
00:27:39Any tenant who's lived in their building for more than five years knows that they have a target
00:27:43behind their back and that the landlords are coming after their units.
00:27:48Every eviction will only force tenants to pay more somewhere else and having less money to spend
00:27:55on food and other basic necessities.
00:28:00Enough is enough.
00:28:03I know that people here today may be feeling anxious, angry and frustrated that Bill 60 is likely to pass on Monday.
00:28:10And I encourage everyone here to come out on Monday because call me old fashioned,
00:28:17but I think that you should be looked in the eyes by the person who's going to fuck you.
00:28:27So I know that we're all feeling this sinking feeling that our government
00:28:30government truly does not care whether we're housed or not.
00:28:34And those feelings are valid, but they're not the only feelings here today.
00:28:38There's hope, solidarity and there's growing movement together.
00:28:45Because as tenants, what we're building is actually bigger than Bill 60.
00:28:53It's collective power, a focus on uplifting the many instead of the few.
00:28:57And we will continue to fight and push back against the erosion of our rights by Ford and his lobbyists.
00:29:03We're building our community and by working together, we will win.
00:29:07That's right.
00:29:14Give it up for no-dem evictions.
00:29:20Instead of investing in homes that we can afford,
00:29:23this government is promoting demolishing the very few affordable housing that exists in this city.
00:29:28and no-dem evictions has been doing a fantastic job fighting back and defending our homes.
00:29:36I would now like to invite Ian from 2.30 Fight Back to come and share a few words on behalf of his group.
00:29:46Give it up for Ian!
00:29:47Woo!
00:29:51Fuck! King set!
00:29:56Yes, thank you. That's nice meeting.
00:30:00Closer?
00:30:01Okay, hi. This is my first rally speech.
00:30:07And I also apologize, it might be a little more abstract.
00:30:11It might be a little more abstract.
00:30:11It might be a little more abstract.
00:30:12Louder!
00:30:13Louder!
00:30:17Okay, here we go.
00:30:19My name is Ian and I'm from 2.30 Fight Back,
00:30:22a grassroots direct action group fighting for the land
00:30:25at 214-230 Sherbourne to be used for community use and social use, not private affluence.
00:30:31For 17 years now, in the midst of a core housing crisis,
00:30:382.30 Shoreburn has sat vacant and fenced in.
00:30:41It has become a speculative scar on the land and a symbol of financialized gentrification.
00:30:50Continued social division in a long attempt to define who belongs
00:30:54and who doesn't in one of Toronto's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
00:30:58In 2019, the land was identified by the city as holding strategic importance
00:31:05for the development of deeply afforded housing.
00:31:09But the developer, King set, outbid the city in 2022
00:31:13in a backroom deal worth $53 million.
00:31:19Then in September of 2024, the same city council approved King set's
00:31:23rezoning application in less than 60 seconds with no debate.
00:31:28This instantly increased the land's market value
00:31:33and virtually removed all possibility of social housing.
00:31:402.30 Sherbourne is one of many places within Toronto's downtown East to fall victim
00:31:45to the mutual beneficial and collaborative relationships between the city, province, and developers.
00:31:51Relationships which has produced desolation, displacement, and erasure of future for current inhabitants.
00:31:59Their human rights ignored, peripheralized for profit, and removed at the behest of homogenized luxury investment.
00:32:06We can no longer allow the city to provide preferential treatment to developers and private equity,
00:32:15as current community members are made invisible.
00:32:18City Council, GreatTO, and the many agents of city operation must be made to understand the symbolic importance
00:32:25as 230 Sherbourne holds for spatial justice.
00:32:28Yes!
00:32:33214-230 Sherbourne must be expropriated and given to the community for social use.
00:32:38Now that the condo market has gone bust, developers and landlords don't get to encroach
00:32:46on our rights as the state sits idle. We won't be pushed out.
00:32:50We won't be pushed out. We won't be pushed out.
00:33:01Ontario's Bill 60, in a similar vein, is also an act of defining whose interests and well-being are being
00:33:07served and whose rights will or will not be observed. Not surprisingly, the province has once again
00:33:14worked side by side with elite lobbyists to produce legislation for the best interest of
00:33:21benefactor landlords and developers at the complete negligence and detriment of tenants' rights.
00:33:29Lenin, in a speech, stated,
00:33:31the state is a machine for maintaining the rule of one class over another.
00:33:35Bill 60 exactly serves this sentiment as a measure of renewing the subordination of the tenant to the
00:33:41landlord through the fear of eviction, anxiety of uncertainty, reduced tenant access to procedure,
00:33:47and near total removal of public participation in the planning of our collective futures.
00:33:55Now is the time we must remember that those ignored or made quiet by the state
00:34:00reaffirm their citizenship through acts of political protest, statements of discontent,
00:34:06simple acts of everyday existence, and assistance that we matter through the occupation of space.
00:34:16Capitalism thrives on division, but fears unity and solidarity.
00:34:21We have the numbers to tame and erode the state through acts of solidarity,
00:34:25continued protest, and direct action.
00:34:30Through our voices and collective presence, we can solidify our rights and tell the state that
00:34:35we will be heard, we will not be displaced, we will not be made invisible for the interest of capital.
00:34:42And today's collective opposition to Bill 60 is just the beginning.
00:34:46We will not be pushed out.
00:34:48Now I'd like to introduce Brad Envoy from the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, give it up for the D.N.G.O.
00:35:09Hello friends and comrades!
00:35:20As mentioned, my name's Brad, I'm with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.
00:35:25Across Ontario friends, disabled tenants getting accessible rental housing, well friends, it's a struggle.
00:35:34Whether it's getting a grab bar for your bathtub, an elevator that actually works for once,
00:35:40or a functioning HVAC system that prevents chemical sensitivity flare-ups, disabled tenants are forced
00:35:47to live in inaccessible, unsafe homes, and that's if we have stable housing at all.
00:36:02Disabled tenants, my friends, they don't know where to turn when their landlord refuses to accommodate our
00:36:09rights, even though they're clearly articulated in the Residential Tenses Act and under human rights law.
00:36:19Now why is that friends? Well, I'll tell you, the wider legal system is overstretched,
00:36:26just battling to keep us in our homes because of evictions and rent increases every single day.
00:36:35And we know that those major resources go into keeping people housed, even if those houses don't meet
00:36:44our needs. But the issues that arise from a lack of accessibility spiral into problems that landlords
00:36:53use against us to evict us as disabled tenants, leaving the disabled tenants locked in a state of fear.
00:37:02And friends, the Ontario government knows this, but instead of doing anything to make housing more
00:37:12accessible and to live up to a dream of a barrier-free Ontario that we were promised 25 years ago,
00:37:21instead of that, we have Bill 60.
00:37:23This bill will only make the lives of disabled tenants more precarious and make requesting accommodations
00:37:35even harder. What will happen when a disabled tenant ends up with arrears and wants to raise issues of
00:37:47accessibility at the landlord-tenant board? Damn right we will. Because that's what they want, friends.
00:37:58What's going to happen when tenants who just need more time to file at the LTB due to our access needs?
00:38:06What will happen to disabled tenants who just need to access a fucking inaccessible Zoom hearing?
00:38:19We're going to get evicted, friends. Already disabled tenants have to weigh options every time we leave our house.
00:38:28We have to wonder, will I be able to get to my medical appointment if the elevator in my building goes down?
00:38:39As people are trapped in their homes for weeks at a time from Toronto to Sudbury just for that.
00:38:49Disabled tenants overwhelmed with pain from chemical sensitivities have to ask,
00:38:55when will I be able to stop my landlord from using cleaners that sent me back every single day?
00:39:05And mobility device users have to ask a simple question,
00:39:09can I actually visit my friends and family without compromising my health and safety?
00:39:15Because the building code only requires that 15% of houses are even visitable, not accessible?
00:39:28So, friends, from these structural failures in housing,
00:39:33can we truly say that disabled tenants now have accessible and safe homes?
00:39:39So, friends, we know what the outcome of this bill is going to be,
00:39:47more and more disabled Ontarians forced out of housing,
00:39:52more and more housing that doesn't meet our needs,
00:39:56and more and more criminalization of our communities,
00:40:00whether we're in our homes or forced to be unhoused.
00:40:04But, friends, whether this bill passes on Monday, or next week, or whenever,
00:40:15we know where the power lies. It lies here, with us!
00:40:20We will never be the speaker. The devil's will never be the speaker. The devil's will never be the speaker.
00:40:30Ford, you say we will win the four! We will win!
00:40:36We will win the four! We will win the four!
00:40:40Thank you, Fred! Give a good shout out, Fred! Thank you!
00:40:44Thank you! Another speaker! Very near and dear to my heart is Salah.
00:40:49Salah is from the Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union, and such an important voice.
00:40:58Thank you, thank you. It's hard to follow that.
00:41:04My name is Salah. I'm part of the Underhoused and Homeless Union.
00:41:10Yeah, louder. There you go. Thank you.
00:41:13If Bill 6 passed, it will, frankly, kill us, you know, as homeless people and disabled people.
00:41:22When eviction rates go up, while shelters are already filled, families are pushed straight to
00:41:28homelessness. That means more people living in campings, not because they choose it, but they
00:41:34had nowhere else to go. We're watching policies that create homelessness, then punish people for
00:41:46surviving. The 50th street needs assessment shows that in three years, the rental homeless population
00:41:57has more than doubled. Just as families, seniors and workers who cannot afford new rent rates.
00:42:09Shelters are already turning away thousands every month, while evictions, rent hikes,
00:42:15and re-evictions continue to push people out of their homes.
00:42:19Yes. Researches across Canada are clear. Evictions are one of the leading causes of homelessness.
00:42:28Yes. The province wants fewer incomes and fewer people freezing to death and sideways.
00:42:38They'll stop creating homelessness, because this is how it's happening.
00:42:42Yes. That means real eviction prevention, rent control, income that match the cost of living
00:42:52and teaching housing as a human rights.
00:42:59We need more policy that helps tenants. We need solutions and dignity.
00:43:05Yes. If my rent went beyond what I can afford, I'm one rent away from being infected,
00:43:16and that will take me back to the street, and I don't want to do that, and I hope my landlords
00:43:21are leaving this. Someone who fell on a hard time once could punish forever. That's how people get
00:43:34trapped in homelessness, not because they failed, but the system refused to let them rise up again.
00:43:45That's why we are here today, because this fight is personal for everyone who is homeless,
00:43:52and also who is housed, but one rent away from being infected. Thank you.
00:44:08My name is Diana Chia McNally, and I am the organizer of the Encampment Justice Coalition.
00:44:35We are 144 organizations across Ontario who want to end encampments by providing housing for all.
00:44:47And do you know what we call Bill 60? We call it the Create Encampments Faster Act.
00:44:55That is what it is, and that is what it's going to do. Force Ontarians, force people like you,
00:45:03out onto the street, through no fault of your own.
00:45:10Also, that landlords can make one, two, three, five hundred more dollars a month,
00:45:16more than we can afford, far more than we can afford, but that is how little our lives are worth to them.
00:45:22That's how little our lives are worth to Premier Ford and the landlords who lobby to take away our rights through Bill 60.
00:45:36Friends, I have worked with people living in a campus for 11 years.
00:45:41I have seen how disabling it can be. Brain injuries, chronic infections, fingers and toes lost to frostbite.
00:45:55Try to hold a spoon. Try to write your own name when you are missing half of your fingers.
00:46:01Shame. I know what a short and brutal life it is for people.
00:46:08In the city of Toronto, did you know that the average age of death for a homeless man is 54 years old?
00:46:14Shame. Do you know what it is for a homeless woman?
00:46:19Shame. 36.
00:46:22Shame.
00:46:23This is why we can't be neutral on any legislation that makes it
00:46:28easier for people to become homeless. Because homelessness is already an early death sentence
00:46:34for thousands of people across this province. There are millions, millions of renters across
00:46:41Ontario. All of you, all of you people out here, half of Toronto are renters. Cities like Oshawa,
00:46:48Ottawa, St. Catharines, they are all one-third renters. And I am a renter.
00:46:55We are a legion. All of us, we are a legion. We are barborming. We are disturbing.
00:47:04But the government has decided that what? We don't matter? That we're the bad actors? We're professional
00:47:11tenants? No. It's the landlords who own the property. They are the property owners who own
00:47:19the assets. We don't own shit. And they're the victims? No. No. Bill 60 is all to facilitate their
00:47:31greed. With our lives, our livelihoods as a collateral damage. People already cannot afford that
00:47:43goddamn rent. Millions, millions of Ontarians are already at food banks because they do not have
00:47:50enough money left at the end of the month after they have paid their rent.
00:47:54What happens when you can't afford food? What comes next? You can't afford your rent. And then what
00:48:03happens? You are out on the streets. Bill 60 is a recipe for mass hunger. It is a recipe for mass
00:48:15homelessness. Even more, even more than we currently have. And there were 81,000 people who were homeless
00:48:21last year in Ontario. Shame! And when people across Ontario, whether they're in Kenora, Toronto,
00:48:29Windsor, wherever they are, when they wonder, why are there so many more encampments in my park?
00:48:36What actually caused this? I'm going to tell them all to remember Bill 16. Shame!
00:48:44Well, you know what I'm going to say to Premier Ford, you may try to take away our homes, but this
00:48:52building here, this is our house! This is our house! This is our house! This is our house! This is our house!
00:49:05And we are coming to collect the rent from you!
00:49:13Thank you! Up next, I want to welcome Fatin from Parkdale Housing Justice Network.
00:49:20Everyone! Assalamualaikum!
00:49:30Assalamualaikum!
00:49:31I'm Arnaam Fatin Ishraq. My name is Fatin Ishraq. And how are we all doing today?
00:49:38Are we going to defeat Bill 60?
00:49:42I believe that we will defeat it. But even after Bill 60 is defeated,
00:49:48tenants in this province will still face massive challenges in finding affordable housing, avoiding
00:49:55evictions, and making their landlords do necessary repairs. This bill is a nightmare,
00:50:02but the status quo isn't acceptable either. We need to push back against the landlord lobby
00:50:09and the corrupt government to win real protection for tenants.
00:50:13One of the strongest tools in our arsenal is the rent strike. There is immense power in withholding
00:50:24your rent. When one tenant can't afford to pay rent, that tenant is in trouble. But when dozens or
00:50:31hundreds or thousands of tenants refuse to pay their rent, their landlords are in trouble.
00:50:37A rent strike reveals the real power relation between landlords and tenants. They need us much more than we need them.
00:50:51Without our rent checks, their precious rental properties become worthless.
00:50:56Parkdale has had a long history of successful rent strikes. In 2018, a group of tenants in 10 buildings
00:51:08managed by Metcalf withheld their rent to protest above guideline rent increases.
00:51:13And after just three months, they won major concessions. During the pandemic,
00:51:23dozens of tenants across Parkdale withheld their rent for over a year to pressure their landlords into rent
00:51:30forgiveness for our neighbors who couldn't afford to pay.
00:51:34We have seen rent strike tactics work all across the city, from Chinatown to Lawrence Avenue to East Scarborough.
00:51:47When tenants stand up for themselves as a group, landlords back down.
00:51:55Rent increases get dropped.
00:51:57Long neglected units get repaired. Disabled tenants get support.
00:52:07Landlords think twice before sending eviction notices.
00:52:12And I have gotten two eviction notices that I have been taken to the Landlord-Tenant Board Board.
00:52:19Bill 60 has clearly shown us that the system isn't built for tenants.
00:52:25It never was. We are not going to get the rights we need and deserve by lobbying the housing minister
00:52:31the way Tony Irvin does. If we're going to win real protection for tenants in this province,
00:52:38we're going to have to work outside the system by putting pressure on the people who are behind
00:52:44laws like this. The big corporate landlords.
00:52:47If they don't listen to us today, maybe they'll listen to us if the rent payments suddenly stop.
00:52:57I invite all of you to come to Parkdale, have momos with us and keep the fight going.
00:53:02I would now like to invite Norad from the Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective. Norad.
00:53:21Good afternoon everybody. My name is Norad Buzaid. I'm a member of the Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective.
00:53:27Thank you for being here on such a cold day. How many of you think that you could survive
00:53:35living outdoors in this temperature? As somebody who was formerly unhoused on and off since my teenage
00:53:44years, I can tell you I have survived many winters outside and it is a condition none of us deserve to live through.
00:53:54The Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective is an organization formed to protect and expand harm
00:53:59reduction and to address the toxic drug death crisis, which has taken the lives of over 52,000
00:54:08people across this country. Nine people are dying a day in this province and the province is dismantling
00:54:18what left we had to address it. Bill 60, which we have all gathered here to fight against today,
00:54:26may seem outrageous, but marginalized communities have been facing these kinds of discriminatory bills
00:54:32throughout all of modern history. From indigenous peoples fighting for clean drinking water on stolen land.
00:54:41To the survivors of generational trauma caused by the transatlantic slave trade.
00:54:47From immigrant families who are struggling to lay their roots while under attack from the far right.
00:54:52To people born into the ever-growing number of families who sit below the poverty line.
00:54:59From rejected trans and queer youth disowned from their families.
00:55:06To foster children who age out of the system.
00:55:11For people living with disabilities, both mental and physical.
00:55:15To any family struck by sudden tragedy where one or more providers are suddenly unable to provide.
00:55:25All of these communities are grossly overrepresented among both the unhoused population
00:55:31and among people who use drugs. A benchmark of a functioning society is how it treats its most vulnerable.
00:55:37And in that the Ford government has not only failed, it has been on the offensive.
00:55:42This past year we have seen bill after bill get introduced and passed with no democratic process,
00:55:51consultation or discussion. This includes Bill 223, Bill 6 and Bill 10, which have all been nothing
00:55:59short of direct attacks on people who use drugs, both housed and unhoused.
00:56:03As we are seeing in education and healthcare, the Ford government continues to starve public services
00:56:12to further their own agenda. The number of supervised consumption sites in Ontario has been reduced
00:56:20by nearly half, with many municipalities across the province losing their sole access point to
00:56:25life-saving, private and sanctioned services. Rather than open new sites for the people who use these
00:56:33services, the Ford government followed them up with a pair of bills to further criminalize people
00:56:38who use drugs. Which for many is a coping mechanism to endure the experiencing of existing as the most
00:56:46marginalized people in a system built to further marginalize. While Bill 6 has granted police the
00:56:54authorization to profile and terrorize the unhoused community, Bill 10 ensures that people who use drugs
00:57:01and live indoor must now live in a state of dread, wondering when their landlords may exercise their
00:57:08appointed duty to surveil and evict. I imagine this is the same kind of fear that has gathered all of
00:57:16you here today. It is no coincidence that today on the National Day of Housing, Ford is in the process of
00:57:23undemocratically pushing forward Bill 60, stripping renters of their tenant rights in a housing affordability
00:57:30crisis. And on the same day, the fifth overdose prevention site has been forced to shut down
00:57:35services in Toronto this year. During a toxic drug poisoning and overdose crisis, Parkdale, a working
00:57:45class Roots and majority renter neighborhood is under an assault of gentrification. With dozens of private
00:57:54condo development projects in the works, Ford and his cronies want to make it easier with this bill to
00:57:59remove the red tape to these developments to line their pockets. They are treating housing as a commodity
00:58:08and not a right. And they want us renters with our tenant rights, homeless folks on the streets in their
00:58:15country. They want to get rid of us because we are a threat to their profits. As public as public
00:58:30services continue to be starved of operational funding, including the recent closure of the
00:58:35Parkdale SES, which meant all criteria laid out by the Ford government to operate. We are seeing police
00:58:43forces across the province requesting increases to their budget in double digit percentages.
00:58:51As the general public's own housing becomes more and more precarious,
00:58:55I urge you to stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable in our communities who have witnessed
00:59:00and experienced this trauma daily. Harm reduction is a life-saving essential service that is directly
00:59:09correlated to the housing crisis our province is experiencing. We are here to let the Ford
00:59:14government know we want all of our essential services properly funded with our own tax dollars.
00:59:24And that includes affordable and secure housing.
00:59:28affordable and secure housing is harm reduction, which saves lives.
00:59:38Tenants' rights under attack, what do we do?
00:59:41Give it up for the Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective!
00:59:47Now I want you to put your hands together for Jared Owen from the Workers' Auction Center!
00:59:58Hey everybody, how's everyone doing? I'm really cool. How many of you here has had a bad landlord?
01:00:10How many of you here had a bad boss that treated you like crap?
01:00:14So my name is Jared and I'm from the Workers' Action Center and we are here today to fight back
01:00:21against Bill 60. All of us here are facing the same cost of living crisis. No matter how hard we try,
01:00:32too many of us find it too difficult to afford to put food at our tables for ourselves and our family.
01:00:39Why is that? Greedy people. Because bad corporate landlords keep raising our rents
01:00:52and bad bosses keep stealing our wages. In the last 10 years, $200 million was stolen from workers' pockets.
01:01:04$200 million. What did the Ministry of Labor do? $80 million remain unrecovered.
01:01:16This is shameful. Why are there so many landlords illegally raising our rents and evicting us from our homes?
01:01:25Why are there so many bad bosses that refuse to pay our wages and fire us when we stand up for all rights?
01:01:37Do you think this is an accident? Do you think this is just the way things are?
01:01:43No. The same tools that landlords and employers use against tenants and workers are intentional
01:01:54policy choices made by Doug Ford and the Ontario government.
01:02:00Bill 60 is yet another attack on our rights and it will not be the last. So what do we do?
01:02:08Do you think this is the law that fixes the laws and protects workers and tenants who stand up and
01:02:16fight back against bad bosses and bad landlords? This won't happen unless all of us fight together.
01:02:26That is why we are here at the Workers' Action Center fighting back against Bill 60.
01:02:31And that is why I would like to invite you to a rally next Saturday. It will be even colder.
01:02:41Just down the street there at the Ministry of Labor at 1 p.m.
01:02:47400 University Avenue. We will be joined next Saturday with workers owed hundreds and thousands of
01:02:55dollars waiting for the Ministry to do something. And if the Ministry doesn't do something, what do we do?
01:03:01So I believe that if we stand together, bad bosses, bad landlords and bad politicians do not stand a chance.
01:03:16So let's stand together this Saturday, next Saturday and every day after. Thank you so much.
01:03:23Give it up for the Workers' Action Center.
01:03:32When our landlords, when our bosses steal our wages and overcharge us to our rents, we got to stand
01:03:39together, we got to fight back. So I hope to see everyone here next, not here, at 400 University
01:03:45to fight back against wage theft and tell the Ministry of Labor to do their job.
01:03:56Next, I'd like to invite Michael Longfield from Cycle Toronto. They brought a whole cycling group
01:04:03here to join us in solidarity against Bill 60.
01:04:10My name is Michael Longfield and I'm the Executive Director of Cycle Toronto.
01:04:16Cycle Toronto is a non-partisan member supported charity that's been working to make Toronto a more
01:04:21vibrant and healthier cycling city since 2008. Most recently, Cycle Toronto was the main applicant in a
01:04:28legal challenge against Bill 212 and the province's attempts to rip out 19 kilometres of bike lanes in Toronto.
01:04:40In July, the Ontario Court ruled those provisions were unconstitutional in a violation of people's
01:04:47section 7 charter rights. In other words, we won.
01:04:51The judge was scathing in the province's lack of evidence. Sound familiar? Noting that even
01:04:59their own experts agree that removing bike lanes would not solve traffic congestion and would put
01:05:05people's lives at risk. Cycle Toronto will be back in court defending our victory against the province's
01:05:12appeal on July 28th. Now, you might be wondering, that's all well and good, but what is Cycle Toronto
01:05:19doing here today? Isn't Bill 60 about making housing more insecure and weakening tenants' rights?
01:05:27Well, from Cycle Toronto's perspective, making rental housing even more insecure would directly
01:05:32impact people's choices to where to live to have more transportation options, including having access
01:05:38to bike lanes. But also buried deep in Bill 60 are additional provisions that would escalate and expand
01:05:47Bill 212's attack on evidence-based decision-making and further handcuff municipalities for making
01:05:55meaningful decisions about their roads. Simply put, Bill 60 would full-out ban building new bike
01:06:04claims if they would impact a car lane. Full stop. And the wording is so vague, it can be used to
01:06:11include bus priority lanes, street-side patios and cafes, or street festivals. All at the Minister's whims.
01:06:19So, this is just a long way of saying Cycle Toronto members, supporters, people who ride bikes,
01:06:25we're all really proud to be fighting with you here today, today and beyond. We know this won't be quick,
01:06:31we know it won't be easy, but together we'll win this attack on our collective rights and build
01:06:36healthier communities for folks to live, work and play. We won't let them fortify us!
01:06:45So, taking the advocates, let's do a quick cheer, bike lanes, save lives!
01:06:54Give it up for Cycle Toronto!
01:06:56Michael is absolutely right. Bill 60 is an omnibus bill. That means all kind of bullshit is in this bill.
01:07:13This bill will fast-track evictions against hard-working and honest tenants.
01:07:17This bill will privatize water. And this bill will attack cyclists just looking for a safe way to get
01:07:31from point A and point B. So, I want everybody here together. We've finished our speakers list, but I'd
01:07:39like to make sure that Doug Ford can hear us whether he's in his cottage or whether he's in his fancy home
01:07:48in North Etobicoke. I want to make sure that he can hear us. So, when I say tenants, you say power. Tenant!
01:07:59Let us remember that there isn't a bill, there isn't a premier, there isn't a landlord
01:08:09stronger than the people when we come together.
01:08:16And on Monday, when Doug Ford forces this bill through the legislature,
01:08:25bypassing committee, bypassing consultations, bypassing the democratic process,
01:08:34we want to pack this house.
01:08:42So, if you will join us on Monday, make sure you talk to myself or Carmen with a clipboard to get you on
01:08:52that list to join us in the gallery and pack this house, because this is our house!
01:08:58This is our house!
01:09:00This is our house!
01:09:03This is at our house,
01:09:05Monday at 10.30.
01:09:09Monday at 10.30. Carmen is right here beside me with a clipboard to get your name so we can coordinate,
01:09:15but we will be here Monday, 10.30, to fill the house.
01:09:20Thank you to every single person who has come out today and thank you to our organizational organizers
01:09:29members who include the York Southwest Intended Union,
01:09:40ACORD,
01:09:40No Dev Evictions,
01:09:46The FFTA,
01:09:52Climate Justice Toronto,
01:09:58ACTO,
01:09:58John Valley Community Legal Services,
01:10:07Democratic Socialists of Canada,
01:10:11The Disability Justice Network of Ontario,
01:10:162.30 Fight Back,
01:10:19Parkdale Housing Justice Network,
01:10:21The Encampment Justice Coalition,
01:10:28and Off the Defensive!
01:10:33Remember folks, we will be back here on Monday at 10.30 to fill the house!
01:10:42Thank you to everyone who has joined us!
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