Anthony Marcusa –
Drug dealers living in a Toronto Community Housing building in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood are reportedly creating health and safety problems for residents. Drug users who frequent the building are said to damage property, steal belongings and put residents in dangerous situations.
“I’ve been assaulted, harassed and threatened,” said an anonymous longtime resident at 15 Scadding Avenue. The resident has complained to TCHC, but preferred not to be named for fear of punishment.
TCHC, including its Community Safety Unit, and Toronto Police have done little to address the problems, according to the resident. They spoke of people breaking into the building, urinating and defecating in stairwells, and pulling fire alarms. They provided pictures of broken doors resulting from police busts.
“At 15 Scadding, TCHC Tenancy Management staff, on-site building staff and the CSU are working together with TPS to address safety concerns,” TCHC told the bridge in an email. “This includes increased CSU and TPS patrols, community meetings, one-on-one tenant meetings to identify and address anti-social behaviours, access to wraparound supports and services as well as eviction.”
The building, near the Lower Sherbourne Street and The Esplanade intersection, has 281 units across nine floors. The building has bachelor apartments as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
During the pandemic, several new residents placed in the building were reportedly dealing drugs.
“It used to be a great building, but it’s not like that anymore,” said Chad Hamad, who moved out recently after living there just over a year. “It’s very diverse. You have families there.”
Hamad, a disability advocate who is in a wheelchair and uses oxygen, felt especially vulnerable. “I can’t fend for myself,” he said. Hamad spoke of being assaulted and smoke coming into his apartment.
Hamad said the stairwell is particularly troublesome, having witnessed people sleeping, doing drugs and having sex. He spoke of stolen property and broken furnishings and doors.
Evidence of a Police raid, June 14, 2024.
Drug users steal laundry and bust mailboxes, according to the anonymous resident. They often linger by the outside door and wait for residents to enter, walking in behind them.
“Nobody feels safe in the building, You can talk to everybody, it’s not safe,” said Hamad. “It won’t change, it’s going to get worse.”
According to TCHC rules, a resident who damages TCHC property or threatens the safety of others can be evicted. But evictions go through the Landlord and Tenant Board, which has had a lengthy backlog. A report earlier this year from Tribunal Watch Ontario said 53,000 cases were unresolved as of March 2023.
“TCHC isn’t really doing anything no matter how much we complained,” said the anonymous resident. “It reached a point where the Community Safety Unit doesn’t even come to take a report for my incidents.”
Both the resident and Hamad spoke of regular police raids. “Police officers can’t do anything,” said Hamad. “They keep saying to get rid of the drug dealers, you have to go through a process.”
Speaking about getting rid of one drug dealer in particular, Hamad said, “he’s been there for three years.”
“TCHC staff, particularly the CSU, are working closely with TPS to address safety concerns through increased patrols, making arrests and holding regular community meetings to keep an open flow of communication,” wrote TCH.
