CALL TO ACTION
1521 Queen W Organizing Meeting
*Wednesday, July 10th, 6pm @ PARC
1499 Queen St West, 2nd floor.
Join the Community Coalition to demand Community Benefits at 1521 Queen St W., and justice for the 27 tenants unlawfully evicted in 2015 by BSAR Development!
BSaR Development, the developer responsible for unlawful evictions of 27 tenants members in 2015 at the former Queens Hotel, is now hosting a pre-application meeting for a proposed 8-storey development at 1521 Queen St W. on Monday, July 15th from 6-8PM at PARC.
Parkdale has not forgotten the harm that this Developer imposed on our neighbours. We will hold BSAR accountable and demand affordable housing for the evicted tenants in any new development at this site!
Join the PNLT and Parkdale People’s Economy on Wednesday, July 10th from 6-8PM at PARC for a Community Coalition Meeting to organize in response to the proposal and ensure that equity-seeking community members receive benefits, rather than harm, from any development on this site.
- Date: Wednesday, July 10th
- Time: 6PM-8PM
- Location: Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (1499 Queen St W, Second Floor)
Background On 1521 Queen St W.
In 2015 the Parkdale community was absolutely shocked when 27 tenants were unlawfully evicted with only seven days notice from the Queen’s Hotel at 1521 Queen Street West. The property is a 13,000 ft2 commercial and residential building that was purchased in 2015 by BSäR Development Group Inc., a boutique condominium developer.
Soon after BSäR purchased the building the tenants, many of whom had been paying monthly rent directly to the landlord through ODSP for upwards of four years, were unexpectedly issued informal seven-day notices of eviction on the pretence that the building was operating as a hotel and thus not protected by the RTA. The staff of Parkdale-Activity Recreation Centre (PARC) and Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS) were informed of the evictions and immediately mobilized a response to support the tenants and fight the eviction. Throughout the week leading up to the eviction, tenants reported being harassed and intimidated. Doors were removed from common bathrooms, and tenants returned home to find the doors of their private rooms unlocked and locks changed. As one resident stated, “The developer has directly threatened us all… he evicted a sick person a day before she went into surgery… I can’t find five minutes of peace in my own home.”
The situation escalated when the Toronto Police Service (TPS) assisted in the eviction of two tenants at the owner’s request. PCLS issued a letter to TPS arguing that the evictions were illegal and recommended it cease assistance with the evictions. This did little to avert the situation. Only 22 hours before the time of eviction, one tenant named Robert Keith Irving, returned to his room to find his door unlocked and locks changed. He was forced to carry his mattress and belongings along Queen Street to the safety of a friend’s house, before attending an emergency relocation meeting at PCLS.
On August 7, 2015, the evictions took place without the participation of a sheriff. Read one tenant's account of the experience here. Local politicians including MPP Cheri DiNovo spoke out, stating, “I’m here to support the tenants that are being evicted. These are not hotel guests, these are low-income people who have lived here, some of them for years. This is completely illegal.” The emergency response protocol for rooming house evictions administered by the City of Toronto and WoodGreen Community Services was initiated, and several tenants were temporarily housed in hotels for eight weeks until receiving rent allowances to assist in their long-term relocation. According to the City of Toronto, it costs the City up to $20,400 per person to provide emergency eviction response and relocation. This includes 18 months of housing help and follow-up, a moving allowance and housing allowances.
BSäR (Queen) Ltd. was subsequently charged by the Province under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and plead guilty to four counts of "unlawfully recovering possession of a rental unit" on September 19, 2016. While this unlawful eviction cost the tenants their home and taxpayers upwards of $100,000 for the emergency response, the corporation was only fined a total of $14,000.
The net result is that 27 vulnerable tenants lost their homes and 25-27 affordable dwelling rooms were lost in Parkdale. The impact of this violence has been palpable. Within a year of the eviction 2 tenants were deceased, one as the result of suicide. Many former tenants are housing insecure to this day.
In response to this eviction, PARC and the PNLT hosted a community forum called "Here to Stay" which was attended by 100 residents and focused on community action to address gentrification driven displacement. At the forum, tenants spoke to their traumatic eviction experience and discussed the need to organize to stop future evictions.
Through sustained community action, Parkdale is fighting back against predatory developers and corporate landlords. The unlawful evictions at the Queens Hotel sparked a major and sustained community response. Since 2015 Parkdale Organize has continued to build tenant power and resist evictions across the neighbourhood. The PNLT has too focused its energy on preserving and protecting affordable rooming houses in Parkdale. In 2016, PNLT produced the Parkdale Rooming House Study, documenting the broader trend of rooming house loss in Parkdale.
In 2017, the PNLT, PARC, PCLS and Woodgreen joined forces to initiate Parkdale Rooming House Preservation Strategy. This strategy involves tenant organizing, the acquisition of an at-risk rooming house by the Land Trust and policy development and advocacy.
In 2019 PNLT's Rooming House Policy Working Group contributed to the passing an Official Plan Amendment to protect dwelling rooms. This new City of Toronto policy will require developers who demolish buildings with 6 or more dwelling rooms to replace these dwelling rooms at affordable rents, as well as provide the right to return and compensation to impacted tenants.
It is our great hope that this new policy will require BSAR Development to replace the affordable dwelling rooms that they de-tenanted in 2015 and to provide new units to the impacted tenants or tenants in similar need. To assure that BSAR is held accountable for their former actions and fulfils its new responsibilities, Parkdale must mobilize a strong community response.
Media about 1521 Queen St W.:
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