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MPP Tom Rakocevic introduces the Ontario Consumer Watchdog Act at Queen's Park.
Lina says she will never allow any door to door salespeople into her home again, after she was misled into signing a 10 year contract for an air filtration system in her home, costing her a total of nearly $5,000.
The Humber River-Black Creek resident said she thought she was helping out two young people who were trying to make a little extra money when they came knocking on her door one morning telling her the air filter would dramatically improve the air quality in her home.
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On April 8th Keep Hydro Public is joining Libby Keenan and many other residents from across the Province to demand for: Affordable, Accountable, and Publicly owned electricity!Our ask is simple: No more rebates. STOP THE SALE OF HYDRO ONE!The Ontario Liberal Government sold about 30% of Hydro One without a mandate. Just last week the Liberal MPPs also voted to continue the sale of Hydro One shares. Privatization of public utility has been disastrous for the Province. Private Power costs more than Public Power. Let’s unite and tell the Liberal Government: we want to Keep Our Power, We want to Keep Hydro Public.WHEN: Saturday April 8 @ 1:00 p.m. WHERE: Assemble at Hydro One Headquarters (483 Bay St) between 11am to 1pm, then march to Queen’s Park at 1:00pm.
If you need further information please contact Doly Begum at doly@keephydropublic.ca or 647-998-3659 (cell).
No, You Don’t Need to Inspect My Furnace!If you live in a residence that is street-accessible, odds are that you have received a visit from a person who claims to be “from the energy company”, holding up some form of “identification” hanging around their neck and who says they “need to inspect your furnace”. Sounds harmless, right?Except it’s a scam.Here’s how it works: the “inspector” is actually from a company that takes advantage of the deregulation of electricity and gas supply that happened in the 1990s that was intended to allow consumers to purchase their energy from suppliers other than their local utility in a competitive market. The goal of the deregulation was to help consumers save money. Unfortunately, most of the companies that emerged offered “deals” to consumers that were not at all to customers’ advantage. When homeowners began realizing that they were paying more to the “alternative” companies than they were paying to their local utility before deregulation, these other companies started using aggressive sales tactics to try to trick the unaware into signing up for their services.That’s where the fake “inspector” comes in. When a trusting homeowner allows this person into their home, what the scammer looks for is the identification number for the local utility account that is located on the furnace and/or water heater. They then ask the homeowner to sign a document that they claim is “confirmation that the inspection was done”. In reality, the document is a contract authorizing the shady company to switch the homeowner’s account over to them, often locking them in to a multi-year energy supply agreement.The best defense against this scam is knowledge. The Ontario government is in the process of drafting new legislation to outlaw this practice. However, at present, nothing prevents these door-to-door visits. The employees are paid with commission for every homeowner they sign up, incentivizing them to ignore “no soliciting” signs and refuse to leave private property when asked. Unfortunately, legacy laws still on the books don’t clearly define “legitimate” business, so door-to-door soliciting is still permitted by default despite the frequent misrepresentation and ongoing shady practices.I asked a helpful police officer from the 31 Division what local residents in the Downsview area can do to reduce the harm from this type of scam. He advised that condominiums and local homeowners’ associations hold meetings to inform their members about this type of scam. Until the new laws come into effect, education is the best way to avoid these scams. No matter what the person at your door promises, be it “savings programs”, “removing toxins from your water”, or “safety inspections”, don’t be swayed. No legitimate energy company will ever visit your house unscheduled. If you’re unsure about someone’s legitimacy, just say “No! You don’t need to inspect my furnace!” and close the door.
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath met with numerous residents of 2901 Jane St. in North York to discuss the impact of skyrocketing hydro rates on their families. “Hydro rates are out of control in this province because of bad decisions made by the Liberal government to privatize more and more of our electricity system,” said Horwath. “Instead of looking after her friends on Bay Street, the Premier should take real steps to help families throughout the GTA by making hydro affordable.” Residents of 2901 Jane St. told the NDP Leader about the challenges they are facing as retired people living on a fixed income. Even after switching to equal billing and receiving small rebates through the Ontario Electricity Support Program residents are still struggling, some going so far as to not cook or use electricity at all between 7am to 7pm. The residents of 2901 Jane St. are not unique in their struggles. Hydro bills have been skyrocketing out of control for many Ontarians all across the province. “I hear stories like these regularly from people I visit,” said Horwath. “Hydro rates are too high, they have been for a long time and Kathleen Wynne isn’t doing much about it. In fact, she is making it worse by continuing to sell-off Hydro One which will drive rates even further up.” The NDP Leader urged the Liberal government to do the right thing and cancel her plan to sell-off Hydro One because it will only make electricity more expensive for families, businesses and community organizations in Ontario.
If you have ever bought food at York University, you likely didn’t spare much thought for the person serving you. We tend not to think much of the people serving us but they think a lot about us. At York, they even think of their customers as their kids, making sure that they serve good food and provide a good service. Customer service isn’t easy, with many hours on your feet to serve an often fickle public -it’s a job that can be made even worse with bad management. The situation at York illustrates this perfectly.Food service workers at the university are not directly employed by York and are not covered by any existing labour agreements with York employees. Instead, York has contracted out the operation of most cafes and restaurants on campus to Aramark, a company notorious for not paying employees for the hours they’ve worked and for firing food service employees for speaking out about unsanitary working conditions. It’s hardly surprising that many of these workers privately admit that they would never eat at an Aramark operated shop because of the number of health code violations they’ve seen on the job.The circumstances at York are hardly different, but at least they are members of a union. In addition to the health code violations, many employees who’ve worked there for over ten years are still not considered full time and are not even eligible for benefits. Unite Here, the union covering the workers, has also documented instances of Aramark managers using racist names for their employees, many of whom come from Caribbean countries. In at least one instance, a manager kicked an employee hard enough to leave a bruise on her shin. This employee was later suspended for being too loud – the fact that she is part of the union bargaining committee makes this management decision highly suspicious.The situation has deteriorated to the point that a strike vote taken in December passed unanimously – there were no members who voted against the measure. Real Food Real Jobs, a campus organization of students, faculty, and community members who work to aid the workers, has held information sessions so everyone on campus knows what’s at stake and what to expect.Not all shops on campus are operated by Aramark; sympathizers can visit the Real Food Real Jobs website or Facebook page to see which shops to avoid during the strike. Winter is a difficult time for a strike so let’s all show our support.
Water is free. It falls from the sky. So why is the water bill so high? When you think about it, we have a pretty amazing system. You flush your toilet, it flows down to Lake Ontario where it is cleaned at a disposal plant before it is dumped into the lake. They then suck it up from the lake, purify it, pump it up to your home where you open your tap and drink it. The price of the water is determined by how much it costs to clean it, deliver it and take the waste away.The Toronto water system, through most of its history, operated at a loss. Downtown homes didn’t even have water meters. You paid a flat rate for water based on the number of taps in your home. In 2005 the city made a conscious policy decision to restructure the water payment system so that the cost of water would rise until it reached the point where it actually covered the costs of cleaning, delivering it and removing all waste. Right now in the Keele St. and Finch Ave. neighbourhoods the sewer system is being rebuilt. It’s the water rate that is paying for this upgrade.The 2005 decision included a policy of annual increases in the water rates. Between 2005 and 2016 the price of water rose from $1.35 per cubic meter to $3.45 per cubic meter, an increase of 255%. The expectation was that as the price rose and water became more expensive people would start to take measures to conserve it. Apart from wanting to cover the real cost of supplying water, the city’s secondary objective was to get you to use less water. Toronto council has increased the price of water by an average of 9% a year each year since 2005. If they had done that with your property taxes or TTC fares there would be a revolution to rival the Boston Tea Party.The standard toilet most people have in their homes uses seven gallons (US liquid gallons) or (26.5 litres) of water to flush. In 2005 it cost you three and a half cents to flush that toilet. Today that cost has grown to nine cents a flush. If the average household size is three people and each flushes the toilet three times a day, the actual cost of water to flush the toilet in your house is $296 a year; up from $115.00 in 2005.Modern low flow toilets use a fraction of the water. The new standard six litre toilets use four times less water than the toilet most people sit on. The water bill for flushing this toilet is $ 69. That’s a savings of $227 a year. If you buy one of the new three litre ultra-low flow models your savings increases to $261 a year.The cost of a new low flow toilet ranges from $112 to $568 with the average around $270. If you can install it yourself, all the better. If not, allow around $200 for installation charges.That means that your new toilet will pay for itself in about two years.Get off the pot, go to your local hardware store, pick out a low flow toilet and stop flushing your money down the drain!
Winter is here with its blustery cold winds that keep the furnace running at all hours, consuming energy. As prices for electricity and natural gas continue to rise, home owners and tenants are always on the lookout for opportunities to reduce their monthly bill. In collaboration with the Ontario government, local electricity and gas companies have partnered with non-profit company GreenSaver to help reduce energy consumption, in some cases by up to 30%! Best of all, the programs are free for qualifying households.There are two main programs: Home Winter Proofing, in collaboration with Enbridge, which focuses on improving the heat-retention of dwellings; and, Home Assistance, in collaboration with Toronto Hydro, which focuses on reducing electricity and water consumption. Both programs aim to assist low-income households, who qualify, based on the number of people living in the household and a corresponding income threshold. For example, a family of 4 people qualifies for the Home Assistance program if it has an annual income less than $43,500 and qualifies for the Home Winter Proofing program if it has annual income less than $61,000. Households that receive one or more allowances or benefits from the Ontario government, including disability, allowance for seniors, guaranteed income supplement, and several other support programs also qualify for both programs.Qualifying households will receive a scheduled visit from a home energy expert who will identify opportunities to upgrade the residence to reduce energy consumption. Upgrades may include insulation in walls, ceilings, and roofs; weather stripping and draft-proofing for doors and windows; programmable thermostats; new high-efficiency refrigerators, freezers, or dehumidifiers; low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators; and energy-saving light bulbs.There’s no catch! The upgrades identified by the assessment are all provided for free and warrantied against defects. The best part is that each upgrade contributes to reducing electricity or natural gas consumption, especially during the winter months when warm air escapes through small leaks and through walls and ceilings with poor insulation.To see if your household qualifies, visit www.greensaver.org/consumer/ or call 1-888-855-3106 to speak with a home energy saving expert and to apply for the programs. If you don’t qualify for the free programs, don’t worry, GreenSaver also offers cost-efficient energy conservation upgrades for your home on a non-profit basis. Visit www.greensavercontracting.ca to request a quote.Chances are that you’ll save money in the long run by investing in improving the efficiency of your home today. By working together to save energy, not only are we reducing our monthly utility bills but we’re also reducing our impact on the environment, a worthy goal that our whole community shares.
On December 14, 2016 the city of Toronto voted for Landlord Licensing after a long battle between tenants and landlords.For twelve years, the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) has been knocking on doors in low to moderate income neighbourhoods asking residents what issues they faced in their community.One problem quickly revealed itself to be an epidemic across the metropolitan: Toronto has a slumlord crisis. Tenants are paying high market rent to live in increasingly worsening conditions. In multi-residential buildings across the city, tenants face ongoing substandard housing issues, include: bursting old pipes (leading to repeated flooding), rising floors, caving ceilings and other water damage as well as mold which is a health hazard, among other things.Chronic infestations of cockroaches, vermin and bedbugs are another huge problem. Many buildings also have continuous elevator issues resulting in frustratingly unreasonable long wait times going up and down in the mornings and evenings. Uneven heating is also an issue during the cold winter months.ACORN, currently boasting 83,000 members, Canada-wide, has been calling for Landlord Licensing since 2008. Landlord Licensing is a cost recovery program that charges the landlord approximately $12 per unit to cover the expansion of a city run Multi Residential Apartment Building (MRAB) inspection program. MRAB was, until now, a reactive inspection program which responds to complaints made by a tenant to the city either by a direct call to the city councillor or by calling 311. Unfortunately, few renters are aware of this option and are left without enough adequate information. Some tenants even mention being afraid of repercussions from landlords if they complain.Landlord Licensing will expand to the MRAB program, in a last minute amendment from Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, Ward 38. Six more inspectors were added to the proposed addition to tackle the large task of annual proactive inspections of every building with a minimum of three stories and no less than ten units.The inspection program will be similar to the Dine Safe program, where buildings would have to maintain a set of standards and if caught in violation of these standards would have to pay a fine if the issue is not brought up to standard in the set time. Landlord Licensing will implement a grading system that will be displayed at the front of each building so prospective renters can see the buildings grade before signing the lease.This is a win/win for landlords and tenants as good landlords can boast a good grade, bringing more prospective renters and reducing vacancies. Until now, there was only a self-certification that buildings awarded themselves and is entirely meaningless, a mere advertising stunt. Certification must come from the city so that tenants can trust it has value.Many landlords have fought Landlord Licensing, claiming that there is no need and there are only a few bad apples. Extensive documented research done by ACORN and confirmed by MRAB reveal that the reality is an epidemic of substandard market housing that urgently needs to be rectified. Landlords have distributed flyers using fear tactics as a way to scare tenants to act against their own interests, leading tenants to believe Landlord Licensing would cost them money, calling it an apartment tax. Josh Matlow, City Councillor, Ward 22 has repeatedly stated that the claim is absolutely false. Matlow has been a leader in the fight to protect tenants.One of the first city councillors to join ACORN’s fight for tenants inside city hall, is Janet Davis, Ward 31, who has been a strong and diligent champion for almost one decade. Listening closely to the needs of the people, Davis has helped lay the foundation and together overcome the years of hurdles that have brought ACORN’s Landlord Licensing to this victory. “I want to applaud tenant organizations across the city who have spoken out and are demanding the city take action" said Davis, who wanted to extend her appreciation.
This new station is an important development for our neighbourhood. It will improve access to jobs located downtown, improve quality of life for commuters, and enhance the value of our neighbourhood.The ride on the GO train from the new Downsview Park station to Union station will only take 15 minutes, significantly less than the time it currently takes to commute the same distance on the subway (40-50 minutes, based on my daily experience over the past three years).This (Barrie) train line has been identified for track upgrades (in progress) and electrification (over 10 years) that will eventually provide 15-minute all-day service.Unfortunately, the station has no plans for a parking lot. I sent several emails to Metrolinx to request a parking lot, and the responses were:1. The land adjacent to the station is not available.2. The land around the station is owned by Downsview Park, which is managed by the Federal Government.3. "We are not considering the addition of parking spaces at this station, as Downsview GO will be an urban station with excellent connections to the subway," and4. "We will not be considering adding parking to this station once construction is complete as there will be a number of bus routes available to connect commuters to the TTC’s subway system."While these are valid points, why not include a small parking lot to give people in the neighbourhood another way to get to the train?Our community needs to convince Downsview Park to allow a small portion of the land around the station to be used for GO Train parking. Today, there are unpaved parking lots beside the new station used by contractors working on the station. These existing lots could simply be paved over to be used by commuters once the station opens. GO and the TTC could charge parking fees to recover the cost of the parking lot over time.Further, I spoke with the TTC, who told me the only bus routes to the new station will be the 101 Downsview Park, the 107 Keele, and the 84 Sheppard. Those routes do not cover all of the areas in the surrounding community.Adding a parking lot to Downsview Park Station is a simple proposal that will maximize the impact of the Province's investments on the Barrie GO line and in Downsview Park. It will get people where they need to go sooner, and will allow commuters to spend less time on transit and more time with their families. If you agree that you would like at least a small parking lot at the new Downsview Station, contact the following people:Bruce McCuaig, President & CEO, MetrolinxCEO@metrolinx.com416-202-5908Toronto-York Spadina Subway ExtensionTYSSE@ttc.caMonte Kwinter, MPPmkwinter.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org416-630-0080Maria Augimeri, City Councillorcouncillor_augimeri@toronto.ca(416) 392-4021
One of the most frequent comments I received as a councillor was: “I cut my lawn and maintain my property…why should I have to cut the grass on the boulevard in front of my house? It belongs to the city.”That boulevard is there to make life easier for you. In the early years on North York Council, whenever it snowed heavily I had a strong urge to hide under the bed and not go to work. That’s because I knew I would get at least 30 telephone calls that went something like this:“I spent two hours shovelling my *@#% driveway yesterday and last night your &%#@+ snow plough came along and filled it up again. It froze and I can’t get to work this morning.”The pile of snow that obstructs your driveway is known as a “windrow.” Until I was elected to office I didn’t know the meaning of the word “windrow” let alone that I had to find a way to deal with them.In the 1980s North York invented the “snow rid.” It was a gate at the end of the plough, a sort of a short blade or scoop that the operator lowered when he came to one side of a driveway and raised it after he had pushed the windrow to the other side.Streets downtown don’t have a grassy boulevard -the sidewalks are built to the curb. The city doesn’t even plough the streets downtown. Suburban areas, on the other hand, have boulevards as a place to store ploughed snow. In North York, not only are the streets ploughed but so are the sidewalks.For downtown residents, there is a bylaw that requires every homeowner to shovel their sidewalk clear within 12 hours after a snowfall or face a fine of $125. There is no bylaw that requires North York residents to cut the grass on the boulevard. Most people, because they care about the appearance of their neighbourhoods, do it by unwritten convention. More importantly, if we didn’t have the boulevards the City couldn’t provide the great snow clearing services that they do.When amalgamation arrived in 1998, those of us from North York knew that we would have the fight of our lives to keep both sidewalk ploughing and driveway opening. Downtown councillors were chomping at the bit to save money by cutting these services. Why not? Their residents didn’t get them. Same went for Scarborough and Etobicoke councillors who were only too happy to make the budget cuts. Neither of these municipalities had them. We knew that the only way to keep them was to spread these, what some called “cadillac” services, to Scarborough and Etobicoke. Once established, we knew that their councillors would never vote to take them away.When my neighbour moved to Downsview from downtown he spent his first winter shovelling the sidewalk in front of his house until he learned that he didn’t have to. So next time, when you are out there cutting the grass on the city boulevard, think about how lucky you are. You could be shovelling snow instead.