Why is this man dressed for winter indoors? His Toronto building's had no heat for a week
CBC
Darren Driver just wants the heat in his midtown Toronto apartment back on.
Driver and several of his neighbours have been shivering for about a week at 64 St. Clair W., a building located just a few blocks west of Yonge Street managed by Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.
Even with a space heater, his apartment has only reached 12 C and with even more frigid temperatures in the forecast, he's worried about how long this is taking to resolve.
"There's a feeling of powerlessness," said Driver. "The space heaters will blow the circuits ….We have to run the oven all the time."
Members of his household and others in the building are wearing multiple layers trying to stay warm but it's "very, very uncomfortable," he says.
"When you're in the cold like this for this long, you sort of start feeling sick," he said.
CBC Toronto reached out to Briarlane for comment Wednesday. But so far, there's been no response.
Driver and several of his neighbours contacted the city, which sent bylaw enforcement officers to investigate. The city's Municipal Licensing and Standards department confirms issues exist at the building.
Janet Stoeckl, the district manager, told CBC Toronto in an emailed statement the department has recently "received five complaints about low heat and two complaints about property standards from tenants at 64 St Clair Ave. West."
Staff from RentSafeTO, a bylaw enforcement program that ensures apartment building's comply with maintenance standards, have been checking in with tenants at the building and distributing space heaters as a temporary measure, Stoeckl.says.
She says staff are continuing to monitor the situation as the company works with a technician to address the situation.
As of Wednesday, Stoeckl told CBC News, "the city has issued two notices of violation and two property standards orders."
In an email, she explained that if the city issues the company a ticket, it could end up paying a $1,000 fine if convicted. A summons to court and a subsequent conviction could mean a fine as high as $100,000 or $10,000 a day "for each day the violation continues," the email reads.
Jean Wilkinson, who has lived in the building for close to two decades, says similar problems have been pervasive and people are losing faith that management can handle repairs well on their own.