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About Us The Parkdale Tenants Association (PTA) has been working to improve tenants' lives since 1971. A grassroots group with strong roots in the community, our members have joined together to force landlords to be more accountable, and to ensure that governments play their role. The PTA survives on a wing and a prayer. We have no regular source of funds, we do not receive any grants, and membership is free. High rent increases, discrimination against immigrants, visible minorities and psychiatric survivors, buildings in appalling condition, and harassment by landlords continue to be issues faced by low-income tenants in Parkdale and other areas of Toronto. In recent years, the PTA has focused on individual buildings and landlords responsible for some of the worst maintained high-rises in the area. In some cases, this work has resulted in substantial improvements in building maintenance, refunds for tenants charged illegal key deposits, and improvements in heat and hot water access. We also award the " Golden Cockroach Award" to the landlord of the worst slum building in Parkdale. There is always a lot of competition for this notorious award! More recently, we have also introduced the "Golden Weasel Award", for the person or level of government that has weaseled out of its commitment to protect tenants against slum conditions. In the Spring of 2002 the PTA launched an aggressive campaign to evaluate living conditions in Parkdale apartment buildings. In response to concerns expressed by tenants, we came up with the idea of rating apartment buildings just as the City of Toronto had started rating restaurants and eating establishments. Our building rating campaign received a temporary boost in 2003 when the City of Toronto promised to introduce extensive new measures to combat disrepair in privately-owned apartment buildings - including a tenant disclosure website showing building repair records and work orders, a licensing system for rental buildings, and stronger action against bad landlords. The City appears to be finally coming through with the disclosure website, which is scheduled to be launched on December 6, 2005. This is a good first step, but we are still waiting for a building licensing system, which the City has promised to implement once the province gives it the power to do so later this year. We intend to hold the City to account on this promise and expect it to be a major priority once the new City of Toronto Act is introduced. Tenants have waited long enough. Meanwhile, the provincial government has dragged its heels, most glaringly by failing to fulfill its promise to replace the provincial Tenant Protection Act with updated legislation that would actually enhance and protect the rights of tenants and undo the considerable damage done since the Harris government introduced this deceptively named Act a decade ago. The PTA's "slumtourism" campaign is a reminder that the pretty picture seen by tourists hides a grim reality for many poor tenants in this city. We want both levels of government to act on the promises they have made, which would go a long way toward improving life for tenants in some of the worst slums in Toronto.
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