Ombudsman Toronto Report Details MLS Incompetent!

This morning, Councillor Josh Matlow sponsored our presser to discuss the incompetence of Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) that was revealed in the Ombudsman Report. The Ombudsman Report (coming to Council today) revealed that over eleven tenants experienced a loss of vital services (electricity, heat, and water) and contacted the City right away.

However, MLS was revealed to have acted arbitrarily in their response to enforce vital service laws, staff were revealed to have not had proper training on bylaws and procedures, EPIC (Eviction Prevention in the Community) lacked clear policies and procedures, and the actions taken did not abide by the Toronto Housing Charter. Although this report was in respect to rooming houses, it begs that question how MLS (and RentSafeTO) enforces bylaws in apartment buildings.

We have been demanding for years that we need standardized compliance, transparent enforcement protocol, and remedial action! So we spoke passionately about the item, as Councillor Josh Matlow (by our request) decided to move a motion of remedial action under the Ombudsman Report Item!