‘No one is safe’ in Parkdale
Community legal clinic has helped tenants fight landlords for nearly 50 years. Now it’s the one being evicted
Without help from the Parkdale Community Legal Service’s clinic in fighting an illegal eviction from his home of several years, Phil MacInnis says he would be homeless — or dead.
Now it’s the clinic facing eviction and uncertainty about its future location, with Parkdale residents concerned it may be relocated away from the community it has helped fight rent increases and bad landlords since 1971.
In mid-October, the clinic was served with a termination notice by landlord Martin Usher, ordering it to vacate the office space it has rented for 18 years by Jan. 1, according to information provided by the clinic at a community meeting Wednesday.
The clinic argues this violates the terms of its lease agreement. A new building is being constructed at the site, and the clinic was to move to the new building’s third floor, paying increased rent after a brief relocation during the construction phase.
“Our clinic is facing uncertainty in our tenancy,” said Johanna MacDonald, the clinic’s director, at a packed community meeting at
the clinic location at 1266 Queen St. W. on Wednesday night. Negotiations with the landlord continue, she told the room, adding the landlord said the clinic may be able to stay on for a short time past Jan. 1.
In the meantime, MacDonald said the clinic is expected to continue to provide services and representation.
Still, the landlord is “not agreeing to abide by our current agreement,” she said.
In an email, Usher, the building’s owner, told the Star his family has been active in the Parkdale community for nearly 50 years and has rented space to the Parkdale clinic for “extremely low rent” for nearly 30 years.
“Unfortunately the cost of operations has sadly not permitted this to continue and though we have tried to deal with Parkdale Community Clinic in a fair and respectful fashion, they seem not to want to appreciate the need to recognize modernday costs,” he said.
The Star sent Usher the clinic’s specific allegations that the termination notice had broken the terms of the lease agreement, but did not receive a response.
In a Thursday interview, MacDonald said she still believes a solution can be found as negotiations continue. She said the support from the community shown on Wednesday was “powerful” and indicates how important is to find a long-term solution for the clinic. Addressing the meeting, board member Bryan Daley noted the irony of the situation — that the clinic is now fighting the same pressures that brought him to the clinic in the first place.
“It shows that no one is safe from what is happening with gentrification, even an organization like PCLS,” he said in an interview. “It’s almost scary to see someone who has your back and is there to support you is being pushed away.”
The eviction comes as Parkdale faces the pressures of rapid gentrification, including rent hikes and the loss of affordable housing.
Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 4), who represents the area, said the clinic remains vitally important to the community. The clinic’s current circumstances illustrate a “huge crisis” facing the area as important neighbourhood services are being priced out.
At the meeting, MacDonald told Parkdale residents the clin- ic’s funder, Legal Aid Ontario, had not yet agreed to fund a lease longer than a year, a term she said is too short for stability.
In an interview, Jayne Mallin, a vice-president of Legal Aid Ontario, said the organization is fully committed to keeping the clinic based in Parkdale. She said interim solutions have been discussed that might include giving the clinic some rent-free space on University Ave. to use, as well as finding space at other Parkdale community organizations to minimize disruption.
“Every solution we have been working on with the clinic has included an option for them to remain in Parkdale,” she said, adding that LAO understands the importance of the clinic maintaining a space in the community. Mallin said the organization is hopeful the clinic and landlord will be able to come to a resolution, and if not, will work with the clinic to find an appropriate space in the neighbourhood in the long-term.
Past clients of the clinic say the services they accessed there changed their lives and stress the importance of keeping the clinic in the neighbourhood. Maureen Adams came to the clinic because she needed help reuniting with her son after she left Barbados with her young daughter because of an abusive relationship in 2013.
She got the assistance she needed and said the accessible location of the clinic made a big difference.
“If you are going to school, you are taking care of a baby, even if you are working you aren’t going to get a day off to say I need to go to Parkdale Legal, but it’s right here in the community,” she said.
Tsering Paldon, a settlement worker at the nearby Parkdale Intercultural Association, works closely with the clinic in helping the area’s large Tibetan community with housing and immigration issues.
“Everyone who doesn’t know what to do comes here,” she said.
Phil MacInnis says the community will rally to support the clinic which empowered him to fight for his own rights. “If this place goes because they want to put lofts here, it’s a shame,” he said. “This has to stay in Parkdale. If it doesn’t there are going to be so many people lost.”