Breaking News: Evictions to resume as soon as August 1

“It’s not fair to the neighbours. It’s not fair to the people in the neighbourhoods.”

– Doug Ford on tenant protests and not impending mass evictions, July 7, 2020 

Ford is now moving to end the eviction moratorium at the same time as pushing through Bill 184. This new law enables mass evictions through fast-tracked eviction orders, weakened legal defenses for tenants, punitive measures against tenants who cannot fulfill repayment agreements and favourable consideration for landlords who “attempted to negotiate” a repayment plan with the tenant, regardless of the form that negotiation took.

The Ontario Superior Court has amended its Emergency Order suspending residential evictions. Published today, the amended Order (dated July 6, 2020) suspends residential evictions “until the end of the calendar month in which the state of emergency…is terminated”. With the Ford government aiming to end the state of emergency on July 24, the Order could see evictions resume as early as August 1. 

On the same day that Ford moved to begin the process of evicting families across Toronto, he paradoxically accused tenants of “going after families” when asked about yesterday’s tenant protest outside Mayor John Tory’s condo. He went on to say that anti-eviction protests by tenants are “not fair to the neighbours. It’s not fair to the people in the neighborhoods…  don’t harass families”. But hundreds of thousands of renters across Ontario know that it is landlords, politicians, police and sheriffs who harass neighbours and families in our neighbourhoods. Eviction notices are slid under doors, hearings are held with little protection for tenants. Sheriffs arrive, change the locks and forcibly remove working class people from their homes. 

No matter what Ford and other politicians may claim, the message is clear to tenants: Queen’s Park wants tenants evicted. They feel they’ve waited long enough and they aren’t concerned about making people homeless. Tenants across the city have come together to say that no matter what laws are passed and no matter what Queen’s Park wants, if evictions are attempted in our city we will fight them.