Racialized, Queer Business Owners Deserve Grants

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP TORONTO CENTRE

September 26, 2024

By Email and Post Mail

Samuel Grosz, Owner

Chaim Sachs, General Manager

Owners and Managers of 77 Howard Street 

Wellesley Parliament Square (WPSQ)

Parwell Investments Inc.

c/o 260 Wellesley Street East, Unit 101

Toronto ON M4X 1G6

Dear Owners and Property Managers of WPSQ and Parwell Investments Inc.

Re:  77 Howard Street Power Outage and Financial Support for Tenants

It has been over 50 days since any response was provided regarding the aftermath of the July 16, 2024 flooding at 77 Howard Street in St. James Town. My last letter to you dated August 9, 2024 has gone unanswered. 

As the Toronto Centre MPP representing more than 800 constituents who reside in this high-rise residential complex, I remind you that for many days, your tenants were deprived of electricity, hot water, hot meals and many other essential services. Some tenants even experienced catastrophic electrical fires and water damage due to Parewell Investments/WPSQ’s apparent failure to provide adequate maintenance to the building’s critical infrastructure. This was repeatedly stated by multiple tenants who shared their unanswered service requests with me.

While I am pleased to hear you have honoured existing leases and that the laundry facilities have been fixed, your inaction on the other corrective measures that your tenants have asked for has led to continued and deep frustration.

On behalf of the tenants at 77 Howard Street, I reiterate their fair and reasonable requests below:

1. Rent abatements:  Tenants seek rent abatements to alleviate the physical and financial burden imposed on them. The abatements should be calculated to reflect the physical suffering and emotional anguish caused by extended power outages. Tenants were highly frustrated and physically stressed when they could not walk up or down the stairs when the elevators were inoperable or limited to one. You collected their full rent on time, even when the building was sitting in absolute darkness without any functioning critical life support equipment or working elevators. CPAP machines couldn’t be turned, wheelchairs couldn’t be charged, medical appointments cancelled without elevator access and refrigerated medicine was thrown away. 

1. Reimbursement of all expenses caused by the flooding and power outage: Tenants seek full reimbursement for all expenses incurred, specifically for but not limited to meal replacements, transportation, insurance deductible, credit card or loan debt plus interest and hotel or other accommodation-related costs during this time. Many tenants are on fixed income and under tremendous financial street, they demand full compensation for the expenses related to losing their groceries due to the lack of refrigeration and stove use. 

1. Freeze on Rental Increases for 2025:  Tenants seek a rent freeze including any AGI increases for 2025, as this will support fixed-income and economically stressed households; and provide much-needed financial stability as they work to recover from this vital service disruption. It is unacceptable that tenants have begun to receive rent increases after what they have recently endured. 

Furthermore, ACORN Toronto and tenant members living at 77 Howard Street are asking for an in-person meeting with the owners and managers of WPSQ and Parwell Investments. Yesterday, I accompanied them to your office at 260 Wellesley Street East to deliver their own letter asking for this meeting. They informed me that all other attempts to engage your company representatives have failed and that their service requests remain unanswered. 

Turning a blind eye to the pleas of your tenants is not the answer. I urge you to not ignore your tenants. I look forward to your timely response to this letter by September 25, 2024 or sooner.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.  Should you have additional questions, you can reach my office by email at [email protected] or by phone at (416) 972-7683.

Sincerely,

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre

August 20, 2024

The Honourable Sylvia Jones 

Deputy Premier and Minister of Health 

777 Bay Street, 5th Floor 

Toronto, ON M7A 2J3

RE: Expanding Availability of Mpox Vaccine

Dear Minister Jones:

It has come to my attention that amidst the growing concern and awareness campaigns around the mpox virus, Toronto Public Health currently has no vaccine appointments available. 

Toronto Public Health has urged eligible residents to book vaccine appointments as soon as possible after a sharp uptick in cases reported in Toronto in July. However, access to vaccine appointments has not kept pace with increasing local demand. These barriers to vaccine accessibility threaten to undermine our efforts to control the spread of this virus and protect public health.

Ensuring widespread access to mpox vaccines is critical in preventing outbreaks and safeguarding the health of our communities. The current limited availability of these vaccines not only hampers our ability to respond effectively but also instills fear and uncertainty among those at risk.

I urge you, Minister Jones, to take immediate action to address this issue by:

1. Increasing Vaccine Supply: It is critical that your office facilitate the procurement of additional mpox vaccines to meet the growing demand.
2. Improving Distribution: Work with Toronto Public Health and other local health authorities to streamline and enhance the distribution process, ensuring that vaccines are readily available, especially in high-risk communities.
3. Monitoring and Reporting: Establish a robust system for monitoring vaccine distribution and reporting any challenges or gaps in real-time, allowing for swift adjustments and improvements. Restore wastewater surveillance across Ontario. 

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to your prompt action and am hopeful that together we can work towards a healthier and safer community.

Sincerely yours,

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP Toronto Centre

Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre

120 Carlton Street. Suite 401

Toronto, Ontario

M5A 4K2

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP TORONTO CENTRE

August 9, 2024

By Email and Post Mail

Samuel Grosz, Owner

Chaim Sachs, General Manager

Owners and Managers of 77 Howard Street 

Wellesley Parliament Square (WPSQ)

c/o 260 Wellesley Street East, Unit 101

Toronto ON M4X 1G6

Dear Owners and Property Managers of WPSQ,

I am writing in response to your agent’s letter dated August 1, 2024, regarding the costs and harm faced by your tenants at 77 Howard Street. While I recognize your crisis communication representative’s detailed account of the events following the power interruption on July 16, I must express my continued concern for the well-being of the tenants and address several points that remain unresolved. I will also be reaching out to the office of Toronto Centre’s local City Councillor and the Mayor of Toronto to share my concerns. 

In your response to me, you asserted that the many of the stories tenants are sharing with my office are untrue. My office and I have independently verified everything that we communicated with you — we have seen tenants’ units ourselves. I will not waste time debating facts when you have not responded in full to your tenants. I am confident that when you prioritize responding to your tenants' requests that you will not make such claims. 

Should you disagree with my perspective, I encourage you to temporarily move into a damaged unit at 77 Howard Street to experience what tenants are enduring. 

First, I want to acknowledge the efforts made by your team to restore essential services in the days following the incident. However, ongoing communication with your tenants since my initial letter has made me aware of ongoing issues that you cannot continue to ignore. 

1. Ongoing Maintenance Concerns: Despite your assertion that the property has undergone recent maintenance, tenants continue to report long-standing issues. One resident has documented leak complaints that date back over ten years. This suggests a pattern of inadequate response to maintenance requests which predates the recent incident. If the catastrophic failures happened because of your negligence, you owe tenants reimbursement through your insurance. 
2. Safety Concerns: A tenant has reported that during a recent power outage (that the tenant was not given notice of in advance), there were no emergency lights in the building, forcing them to use a flashlight to exit. Your high-rise building is home to many tenants living with disabilities. Their experience raises serious safety concerns, particularly for those with accessibility needs and in the event of an emergency evacuation.
3. Persistent Power and Water Issues: Despite your statement that power was fully restored by July 31, we have received reports of subsequent outages that many tenants received no notice of. Another tenant still does not have access to consistent hot water in their unit. You must ensure tenants can anticipate power outages and water cut-offs. All of your tenants deserve consistent access to hot water. 
4. Impact on Vulnerable Residents: The prolonged disruption has had a particularly severe impact on vulnerable tenants. For example, one resident with diabetes reported significant difficulties managing their condition during the outage due to lack of access to refrigeration and proper food storage. This tenant was additionally stressed earlier this week when a power outage happened, which the tenant was not informed of in advance as the tenant had to ensure their diabetes medicine remained cooled within specific temperatures.
5. Financial Burden on Tenants: Many tenants have incurred substantial costs due to these incidents, including hotel stays, replacement of spoiled food, and other out-of-pocket expenses. Some report that their insurance will not cover these costs as the building was deemed "safe to stay" despite internal temperatures reaching 30°C with 70% humidity. Other tenants have not heard back about their requests for the incident report that their insurance companies require them to submit claims to their tenant insurance company. Please do not deflect from your financial obligations, saying that tenants should use their tenant insurance when you do not provide them with the documentation that they need to do this. Furthermore, only a third of the laundry machines in your building are currently working — forcing tenants to use more expensive laundromats that they must travel a longer distance to get to. These costs are continuing to add up. You must prioritize answering all of your tenants in a timely fashion. 

In light of these ongoing concerns, I urge you to reconsider the requests outlined in my previous letter:

1. Provide rent abatements to reflect the hardships endured by tenants.
2. Reimburse tenants for expenses incurred due to the power outage and flooding.
3. Implement a freeze on rental increases for 2025.
4. Honour all existing leases, including for those who had to relocate temporarily.
5. Prioritize repairs and renovations of damaged units.
6. Ensure immediate access to neighbouring buildings’ laundry facilities

Furthermore, I request that you provide a comprehensive plan addressing the following:

1. How you intend to improve the building's electrical infrastructure to prevent future incidents.
2. How you will address the backlog of maintenance requests — particularly requests related to water leakage and electrical issues.
3. How you will ensure the safety of all tenants, especially those with accessibility needs, during any future emergencies.

Your tenants are living with a severe disruption and many have spent thousands of dollars on replacing lost food and belongings, as well as alternative accommodations since your building’s catastrophic incident. I hope that your future communications focus less on attacking their legitimate grievances and that you instead prioritize making them financially whole. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your timely response to this letter by August 13, 2024 or sooner. Should you have additional questions, you can reach my office by email at [email protected] or by phone at (416) 972-7683.

Sincerely,

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre