Tenants’ rights advocates are raising legal concerns about a Toronto building complex that’s banning electric transportation vehicles from the property, including in units, the garage, parking spaces and lockers.
Notices were posted this week at 110 and 120 Jameson Avenue in Parkdale, owned by Oberon Development Corporation, to alert tenants to the ban.
According to the notice, electric vehicles are not permitted anywhere on the property. Electric bikes and motorbikes, hoverboards, mopeds, segways and skateboard scooters are also part of the ban.
“If you have any of these vehicles, please remove them from the premises immediately,” the notice says, adding lithium batteries, a type of rechargeable battery, could be a “potential fire hazard.”
A notice of the ban on electric transportation devices as seen posted at 120 Jameson Avenue. (Tyler Cheese/CBC News)
Douglas Kwan, the director of advocacy and legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, a community legal clinic and advocacy organization, said he’s never seen such a ban in a residential building.
“And these are small devices. A segway is so tiny, it’s smaller than some vacuum cleaners. It seems unreasonable for the landlord to act in this manner,” Kwan said.
CBC Toronto contacted the property manager for comment, but did not receive a response.
Ban could violate tenants’ rights, says advocate
Kwan says such a ban could violate legislation that protects tenants’ rights and could also violate Ontario’s Human Rights Code.
Asked if property managers can implement such a ban, the Landlord and Tenant Board did not respond directly, saying tenants who believe a landlord has breached the Residential Tenancies Act can file an application to the board.
Toronto Fire Services (TFS) told CBC Toronto that it has responded to 47 fires involving lithium ion batteries this year, 10 of which took place in residential high-rises. Parking an electric vehicle in an exit hallway or exit stairway is against the Ontario Fire Code, it said.
“Condo corporations are entitled to implement any condo rules for the operation of their building. That is bound by separate legislation that TFS does not intervene with,” it added.
The Residential Tenancies Act guarantees a tenant’s right to the “reasonable enjoyment” of the premises, Kwan pointed out. That can include everything from having a guest over for a meal, or using a chosen method of transportation and storing it in your unit, he said.
In the act, landlords are afforded certain rights around choosing a tenant, collecting rent, increasing rent and evicting tenants — but there is no specific language around whether they can make rules regarding tenants’ personal property.
Beyond that, said Kwan, if a person has a disability and relies on an electric vehicle due to mobility restrictions, such a ban could infringe on their human rights. According to the human rights code, an individual can’t be discriminated against based on need for accommodation, he said.
As for lithium ion batteries, he said, they’re used in all sorts of personal items. “It’s unusual and unreasonable,” to ban transportation that uses these batteries, said Kwan.
A literature review published by the National Research Council of Canada in June examined potential hazards of parked electric vehicles and whether current fire guidelines and standards were adequate to address any hazards.
The council said in its conclusions that while the fire hazards of electric vehicles are not higher than gas cars, there are concerns about outdated parking structures and more research is needed to understand how to prevent fires, specifically when it comes to electric vehicles.
Renters may not be able to afford a car: lawyer
Samuel Mason, a tenant lawyer at Parkdale Community Legal Services, said the ban is an example of landlords “dictating the minutiae of daily living for tenants.”
Mason, who is not representing the tenants, said he agrees that the ban is contrary to the Residential Tenancies Act.
“The use of electronic transportation devices or vehicles is certainly something that someone has a right to do, in the place where they live, especially living in a city like Toronto, where many people use this type of vehicle to live normal lives,” he said.
He also said that at this particular building complex, the majority of tenants rent.
“It is very likely that they either can’t afford cars or not provided parking spaces for cars or can’t afford the parking spaces for cars even if they are provided,” he said, adding electric vehicles could be a popular alternative for such tenants.
Many may be using this kind of device to get to work, or to do their work, for example if they are delivery drivers, said Mason.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if many people use these devices to survive. And that of course, is a class issue. The landlord class aren’t people that have to work these types of jobs,” he said.
Climate agency wants more such devices
The devices are also environmentally friendly, said Mason, adding having more Torontonians rely on alternative transportation is helpful to combat climate change.
E-scooters are pictured in Ottawa. A Parkdale building is banning the use of these scooters and other electric transportation devices. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
Regional climate agency The Atmospheric Fund is currently launching a program with Kite Mobility, a Toronto-based electric rideshare company, to help residents in buildings like condos and apartments gain access to electric mobility devices through renting them. Kite is currently in the implementation process.
“This is a great solution for families who live in the buildings because it makes life more affordable by eliminating the cost of private car ownership,” said Ian Klesmer, the director of strategy and grants at TAF.
For now, Kwan recommends tenants seek advice with a local community legal clinic about filing a tenants’ rights application. That, he says, would force the landlord to prove why the ban is in place in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
