[Videodrome]

I rather enjoyed that!

 

[Towered]

I rather enjoyed that!

He was practically foaming at the mouth!

 

[Regigate]

Wow, Dougie just went crazy on commercial landlords in the media...

He did sound very upset. I didn't particularly like his tone, personally. I work with/for a landlord or two, and frankly, DoFo implying that we owe it to tenants to cut them a break is a bit silly to me.

Is it in our best interest, and probably many others' best interest, to apply for subsidies? Yes. But if a landlord finds that it isn't in their best interest to do so, it is their asset and they can choose to do what they please, in my mind. For example, maybe I have a tenant who is well below market rent and now needs a subsidy - maybe default and waiting 9 months to get a new tenant in isn't so bad as a landlord, if there's a 10%+ difference between where they were at and market.

Point being, each landlord should have the right to make that calculation and determination on their own, and I would hate to see an over-zealous Dougie coming in telling commercial landlords what they can and can't do with their assets. That would be a bit of a line, to me.

 

[Soop]

He did sound very upset. I didn't particularly like his tone, personally. I work with/for a landlord or two, and frankly, DoFo implying that we owe it to tenants to cut them a break is a bit silly to me.

Is it in our best interest, and probably many others' best interest, to apply for subsidies? Yes. But if a landlord finds that it isn't in their best interest to do so, it is their asset and they can choose to do what they please, in my mind. For example, maybe I have a tenant who is well below market rent and now needs a subsidy - maybe default and waiting 9 months to get a new tenant in isn't so bad as a landlord, if there's a 10%+ difference between where they were at and market.

Point being, each landlord should have the right to make that calculation and determination on their own, and I would hate to see an over-zealous Dougie coming in telling commercial landlords what they can and can't do with their assets. That would be a bit of a line, to me.

Not to mention, the LL's can't actually do much at this point. Can't apply for CECRA yet. All we are currently doing is determining which tenants are eligible and not all of them want to give all the proper financial information. We were in the process of working on with tenants on deferrals, relief, etc and then CECRA was announced, so we are on hold. In the meantime, our bills and payroll have to be paid. Luckily we have the cash flow and enough tenants that are paying to keep going.

Cash flow is also an issue with CEWS (the 75% of wages deal). Mr S works for a hotel and hasn't worked since April. His hotel is in the process of getting CEWS and he will get a paycheque this Friday for the first Block (March to mid- April). But the government won't be paying employers for a while. The hotel owners needed to ensure they would be able to have the cash flow to pay staff before applying. Luckily they do. Now we just have to decide what to do with CERB payments we've not been spending (I'm still working). Things are so chaotic at CRA that I'm reluctant to send it back yet for fear it's not recorded properly.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Meanwhile, while we were distracted...

Requests to Remove Lands from Ontario's Greenbelt

From link.

Site-specific Requests to Remove Lands from Ontario's Greenbelt to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MMA) are part of the Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review of the Greenbelt and Growth Plans.

These requests are mapped at this link. This is an interactive map that shows additional details for each request.

The red markers on this map shows all of the requests to remove lands from the greenbelt.

Note that the date of this map/these requests to remove lands cannot be verified.

At the May 13th RH Council Meeting a Member Motion came forward to request that Part Lots 1,2,3 & 5, Concession 3 be removed from the ORM and rezoned for Industrial Use.

As you can see on the map (below) Evans Planning already has a removal request pending for those same lands.

 

[picard102]

For example, maybe I have a tenant who is well below market rent and now needs a subsidy - maybe default and waiting 9 months to get a new tenant in isn't so bad as a landlord, if there's a 10%+ difference between where they were at and market.

Heaven forbid landlords not be allowed to take advantage of a pandemic to make an extra 10%.

 

[Jasmine18]

When talking about landlords can we separate an avg person renting their basement or apartment vs millionaire investor types?

Like we rent our basement and the person downstairs has no job but she is getting CERB so we expect her to pay rent.

 

[PinkLucy]

Doug was referencing commercial landlords in his rant the other day

 

[SunriseChampion]

When talking about landlords can we separate an avg person renting their basement or apartment vs millionaire investor types?

Like we rent our basement and the person downstairs has no job but she is getting CERB so we expect her to pay rent.

Personally, all landlords are landlords.

If you've overextended yourself buying into the middle class dream of debt, that's your fool problem.

Just saying.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The tenants from hell are happy with COVID-19, since they can't be evicted. Even if they haven't paid any rent since last year.

 

[SunriseChampion]

The tenants from hell are happy with COVID-19, since they can't be evicted. Even if they haven't paid any rent since last year.

My building manager has been paying off trouble tenants to get rid of them. Did a bunch last month.

She returnt their deposit to them and covered their last two months' rent just to get rid of them.

This has partially caused a glut of vacancies here which has helped me in my negotiations to lower the rent on a bigger unit on a higher floor that I'm hoping to move into!

Plague's been great on this block. Trouble tenants gone, I'm getting discounts and better digs.

 

[W. K. Lis]

My building manager has been paying off trouble tenants to get rid of them. Did a bunch last month.

She returnt their deposit to them and covered their last two months' rent just to get rid of them.

This has partially caused a glut of vacancies here which has helped me in my negotiations to lower the rent on a bigger unit on a higher floor that I'm hoping to move into!

Plague's been great on this block. Trouble tenants gone, I'm getting discounts and better digs.

Vacancy rates for long-term care is increasing due to increased empty beds. Ditto for any apartments where elderly USED to reside.

Don't like that since, I find elderly tenants are better tenants than the younger ones.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Don't like that since, I find elderly tenants are better tenants than the younger ones.

Facts.

Pensioners aren't having ten guests over til 8am.


It's a bit sad....a few times a year a tenant here dies at home, alone, usually. One died last month and there is no known next of kin so the attorney general took over the flat. So sad.

 

[Videodrome]

I live in a building full of seniors. It is semi-regular to have a death notice in the elevator, even without a pandemic. Units are usually flipped in a few days, as there is a LONG waiting list for units here.

On topic, we just pay market rent and aren't in any financial difficulties. Our building is willing to negotiate a payment plan for lower income residents.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Military teams raise concerns about conditions at Ontario care homes

From link.

Military personnel sent to nursing homes in Ontario have observed shocking conditions, including “blatant disregard” for infection control measures, mistreatment of residents and a level of care described as “horrible,” according to documents obtained by Global News.

Canadian Armed Forces teams deployed to five of the province’s worst-hit long-term care homes to help control COVID-19 have raised concerns about each of the facilities, describing the care as ranging from below best practices to “borderline abusive, if not abusive” and worse, the documents show.

Infection prevention and control measures were found to be a particular problem, with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) protocols going unheeded by staff, many of whom were not properly trained, according to the documents obtained from a source familiar with the mission.

Global News was not able to independently verify the allegations made by the military concerning the homes. The military documents did not always specify at which of the five long-term facilities the problematic care practices were alleged to been been observed.

But Global News confirmed the Ontario government had received a report documenting the military’s findings and intended to make them public this afternoon.

The military report sent to the province alleged that 15 out of 20 categories reviewed — ranging from proper cleaning procedures to staffing — were deemed “high risk.”

The Ministry of Long-Term Care has launched an investigation based on the military report and a death has been referred to the coroner for investigation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday the military had made “extremely troubling observations” about Ontario care homes, and he had spoken to Premier Doug Ford about the matter.

The documents obtained by Global News said soldiers had witnessed cockroaches, flies and rotten food, residents left in soiled diapers and crying out for help for lengthy periods without any response

At one facility, residents had not been bathed in weeks, the documents alleged.

Staff at a Brampton nursing home allegedly recorded a Taylor Swift Dance Video showing them dancing through the facility, passing between areas deemed COVID-19 positive and negative without wearing any protective equipment, the documents claimed.

At a facility in Etobicoke that has experienced dozens of coronavirus deaths, residents who tested positive for COVID-19 shared rooms with uninfected residents, separated only by a curtain, the documents said.

The observations of the Canadian medics, who were deployed last month to a handful of the province’s long-term care homes, have raised doubts about the ability of the facilities to adequately respond to the COVID-19 crisis without outside help.

While conditions were said to have improved since the deployment, the soldiers questioned whether the homes were capable of operating effectively once the military had left and have suggested the province conduct assessments of the facilities.

Long-term care homes have been hit the hardest by the pandemic by far, accounting for more than eight out of ten COVID-19 deaths in Canada. On April 23, the federal government approved Ontario’s request for help from the Canadian Forces.

Military teams were sent to five Ontario’s nursing homes that have seen a large number of COVID-19 deaths. All were in the Greater Toronto area. The initiative was part of Operation Laser, the Canadian Armed Forces response to the global pandemic.

The teams were dispatched from April 24 to 27 to assess the homes, and began deploying on April 28. The teams are made up of senior medical personnel and medical workers from 4 Health Services Group, along with support personnel.

A total of 285 Canadian Forces members are working in Ontario care homes. In Quebec, more than 1,500 soldiers were sent to 25 long-term care homes, with up to 60 at each facility. More than two dozen Canadian soldiers have now tested positive for COVID-19.

The team members expressed frustrations that staff were not properly trained or doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 within facilities, noting that high-contact areas and rooms that had experienced infections were not being properly cleaned.

Infection prevention and control was alleged to be an ongoing issue for both recently-hired and long-term staff. In particular, the soldiers said that personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols were either ignored, forgotten or disregarded.

Staff and even doctors were not always properly using PPE, and were not changing their protective gear before moving between rooms and wards, according to the documents. One nurse refused to wear a face shield or gloves on the grounds that she didn’t have to because she couldn’t breathe, they alleged.

It was alleged that some staff were not washing their hands between patient interactions. Staff would wear the same pair of gloves while dealing with multiple patients. Instead of changing their gloves, some staff would use disinfectant on them, the documents claimed.

Long-term care downward spiral started under former Premier Mike Harris. Continued under current Premier Doug Ford, with lobbying by the Chair of the Board for Chartwell Retirement Residences, the very same Mike Harris. Long-term care is "Walkerton version two".