P.O.I.N.T. Inc. (People and Organizations in North Toronto)

Monday, April 7, 2003
9:30am – 11:30pm
Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Room 303

MINUTES

Core Members/Participants: Naomi Berlyne, Mark Mormack, Robert Nykor, Dan McIntyre, Kam Lau, Brad Butt, Susan Wankiewicz, Vivette Howe

City Staff: Gwynne Cheung, Peggy Byrne, David Spence, Jan Bangle, Gaye Hainsworth, Rosemary Foulds, Mary Rickett, Azar Farahani, Laila Parpia

1. Welcome/ Introductions

Gwynne Cheung assumed the chair and welcomed all members and participants to the meeting. A roundtable introduction followed.

2. Minutes of April 7, 2003 Meeting/Agenda Review

Minutes of the April 7th meeting and the agenda for this meeting were reviewed and adopted.

3. Housing and Homeless Program Report Updates

(a) Tenant Defence Fund
Gwynne reported that Council has approved an increase of $25,000 to the Tenant Support Grant Program budget bringing it from $150,000 to $175,000. The budget for the Outreach and Organizing Program remains at $150,000. The rate of application appeared to be slower compared to the same time last year. There were only 17 new applications received from January to March, compared to 50 applications received in March 2002.

Dan indicated that one reason for the slower takeup was because FMTA has been working with the tenants to organize and prepare for the Tribunal hearings and some tenants were capable of representing themselves at the Tribunal without City’s grants. Dan also commented on the trends of above guideline rent increase applications (AGI). Some landlords are targeting their AGI applications at long-time tenants whom the landlords felt are not paying fair market rents. It will be interesting to watch AGI activities at the Tribunal this fall because of the cold winter in 2002-2003. The Tribunal recently decided not to release the list of AGI affected buildings as a result of the ruling of the Privacy Commissioner on the release of eviction data to the public. Dan is pursuing this matter with the Tribunal as he needs the AGI list for the outreach program.

b) 2003 Learning Forum
Gwynne reported that the organization of the Learning Forum is well underway. The forum will take place on May 27 and 28, both in the afternoon and evening. All staff in the Housing & Homelessness Support & Initiatives Unit are working together as a team. Each person is responsible for organizing a session and getting speakers. Those sessions that provide information on city programs and policies will involve staff from other City departments as speakers.

Peggy spoke about the promotion of the forum. A flyer will be sent out by mid-April to a number of organizations on the Shelter, Housing and Support Division’s mailing lists. These lists include members of RHAC, the Alternative Housing and Services Committee, the Rooming House Working Group, tenants who had registered for the Rental Housing Forum held in November 2001, and members of the Landlords’ Self Help Centre and the Greater Toronto Apartment Association. In addition, the Forum will be advertised in councillors’ newsletters and City’s Web site. After the flyer has been issued, registration forms will be sent out to interested people. RHAC members are asked to spread the word about the learning forum to their colleagues and clients.

c) Rooming House Working Group Update
Rosemary informed members of RHAC about the Rooming House Working Group (RHWG). She indicated that the purpose of the Rooming House Working Group is to advise the City on the management, maintenance standards and supply of rooming housing stock. There are a number of issues identified by the Working Group such as. mortgage financing, insurance, property standards and taxation. The Working Group has set up 4 sub-groups to investigate the issues and make recommendations. For example, rooming houses are treated differently from other residential properties with respect to mortgages by the financial institutions. They will conduct a survey of rooming house landlords regarding mortgage financing and will be reporting back in June.

4. Update from Core Representatives/Other Participants

(a) City Planning Update
David Spence of the Planning Department reported that the Official Plan was adopted by Council last November and submitted to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for endorsement. The Minister has reviewed and approved most of the Plan except for the section on Housing Policies (Recommendations No. 5 & 6). The review of this section is deferred until the Court appeal on OPA2 is dealt with on June 19.
Re: The parking study on rental apartment – about one-third of the study (i.e. review of parking standards) is complete. The next step is to interview property managers and study the utilization rate. Condo buildings will also be included to see if their parking standards are different from rental buildings.

(b) Other Updates
Dan indicated that FMTA is helping tenants whose rental buildings are being converted into condominiums. One of these buildings is 20 Carlton. The OMB hearing on the conversion of 20 Carlton has been scheduled for June.

Brad indicated that he has been helping Linda Lapointe with the landlord survey for the eviction study.

5. Other Business

Dan indicated that on April 14 the FMTA will host an all party debate related to the provincial election for tenants at 40 St. George at 7:00 p.m.

6. Next Meeting - Monday, June 23, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. , Metro Hall, 55 John Street , 3^rd Floor, Room 303