As PC MPP Peter Shurman noted at Queen’s Park on May 14, 2013, Bill 14, which will reform the evictions process for co-operative housing, took a whopping 15 hours and 36 minutes of debate time in the Ontario Legislative Assembly, but the bill has finally moved to the Legislative Assembly committee for fine‑tuning. CHF representatives were there and I’m sure will continue to be there throughout to make sure that the sector’s goals are met.
We’re watching this Bill’s progress carefully so that we’re prepared to help our co‑op clients make the transition from one eviction system to another.
In the meantime, we’re working hard with our co‑op clients when they make difficult decisions to evict members who are not meeting the community standard of behaviour. Our experience at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) tells us that the same issues will apply when co‑ops are under their umbrella: LTB decision‑makers must weigh issues of fairness and human rights in the same way that Superior Court justices do. Removing someone’s housing is a decision no‑one ‑‑ from Co‑op Board members to landlords and to decision‑makers ‑‑ wants to make. We applaud the careful attention that all of these groups must and do give.