“Parkdale has already lost a lot”: A tenant from 300 Dufferin speaks

Parkdale Organize interviewed Maylin, a tenant at 300 Dufferin.

I have lived at 300 Dufferin for the past 12 years, since July 2012. Altogether, I’ve been in Parkdale for 23 years. I don’t like moving. Before, I lived across the street at 345 Dufferin and then on Laxton. The landlord on Laxton wanted to demolish the house but I didn’t want to leave the neighbourhood and I found a place here. 

300 Dufferin has everything I need: backyard, parking, and the neighbours are great. Beverley, the super, I have a beautiful relationship with her. Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot of issues here, but it’s us. I know my neighbours, we help each other. I tutor my neighbour’s son for free, neighbours have watched my son for me. Sometimes tenants don’t have money for food and we help each other. The single moms do barbeques where the kids play while the moms are cooking. There are homeless people who come to the building and we help them. This is my paradise, this is where I want to live for the rest of my life.

I’m an immigrant. I’ve never left Parkdale because Parkdale keeps me grounded. It’s the vibe. I like to help people and I like to live where people need me. Where I can make a difference. That’s Parkdale. I’ve gone to the same grocery store for 23 years. Neighbours have seen my son grow up. Some of their kids were my students when I taught at Parkdale Collegiate and Central Tech. This is my community. 

When I moved into this building I was paying market rent. It wasn’t affordable. I did all my undergraduate studies here and I’m a single mother. I went through a rough patch when I couldn’t pay my rent. Toronto Community Housing (TCH) offered me a subsidy. Of course they increase the rent every year but that’s everywhere. They’re raising the price of the parking, but it’s been pretty good. They helped me when I was in need. 

Last year TCH announced, I don’t know if eviction is the word because they say you can move back, but I don’t believe that. TCH held a meeting for tenants at the community centre. They told us we are all being moved out. They completely dismissed the opinions of the tenants. They said, “This is what it is, take it or leave it.” Tenants tried to deliver a petition and they completely dismissed us. They haven’t heard our voices at all. 

At the meeting TCH showed us how the building is going to be when the work is finished. We asked if they could do the renovations with us living here. They said that is impossible because they are removing the building façades completely, front and back. They say there is leaking and water damage that’s been going on for a long time. It didn’t make sense. I’ve been here 12 years and nothing has leaked. They told us that by March 2025 they will be moving people out of the building. March has passed and we haven’t heard anything more.

I don’t believe what TCH is saying. I’m seeing what’s going on in Parkdale. You see all the condos around and the updates in the neighbourhood. Our building looks old. I think they are going to renovate it and charge higher rents. Or they’re going to bring the building down and build something else. I don’t think they need to do these renovations.

At the meeting, TCH said they would give us two choices for relocation, $50 to change addresses, and pay for moving trucks. But I haven’t received any notification. I don’t know if other tenants had heard anything. I asked them a simple question. I have a car. What if I go to a building where I have to park on the street after having underground parking for 12 years? They couldn’t answer that question. We got a notification at our door saying they will hold a lottery for the relocation but no other information. They said they are going to do a lottery draw.

What I noticed is this. After the TCH’s meeting, tenants were divided. TCH is approaching people individually. Though they haven’t contacted me. Tenants had an impulse to do a petition but since then they shut down. Tenants have not held meetings or talked about it. TCH really dismissed tenants at that meeting. They sent a strong message and now people feel like there is nothing we can do to stop this. People are discouraged.

Being relocated for three years, moving me out of my community of 23 years, it hurts. I work at a school at Jane and Lawrence. Where am I going to end up? My favorite school to work at is here in Parkdale and they are trying to bring me back, but now I don’t know. My son was born here, he went to Alexander Muir. It’s my community. 

There’s a lot of people living here with limitations. People with mobility issues. People with mental health issues. When you move to a new neighbourhood with those limitations you could be treated differently. Here, we have the tenant who screams, but he’s ours, we’re used to him. For people who have mental issues, moving them from their comfort zone could present issues. I could adapt. But someone with autism, that’s harder. I feel for them.

Parkdale has already lost a lot. Every time they bring something down and build up a condo we lose a lot. This will be another loss. A lot of people are here because TCHC gave them affordable housing here so if this building disappears it’s making people’s lives more difficult. That’s my thing. You have this organization, TCH, to help people who are struggling. How do you make them struggle more? Something doesn’t add up there. Maybe they are just getting rid of the building to put up a condo. How could you stop caring?

I would say that TCH should reconsider. Because I don’t think they took this lightly but if they could reconsider I think that would help tenants in this building. Do the repairs little by little. Relocate us within the building. For a long time I have noticed that people have been moving out but no one moves in, so for a while they have been vacating the building. They told us there are only around 100 units left out of 144 and the rest are already vacant. Why can’t they relocate us within the building? At this point, I don’t know. I think we’re hopeless. That’s why people stopped pushing back. TCH set it in stone. They said, “We are the owners. We do what we want with the building. You guys just have to move.” But when issues like this go bigger, go in the media, it might make them reconsider.