Tenants of flood

Tenants of flood-damaged buildings seek answers about their rights

'A lot of people are just feeling despair and hopeless,' says resident of McEwen Avenue building

Abbey Mcinnis has not returned home since her apartment flooded on July 1.

If she did, she'd find the floors torn up and gaps in every wall where soaked drywall has been cut away.

"To be told that's livable is laughable," she said, adding that while her landlord has been "fantastic," the experience has forced her to research her rights as a tenant.

"I'm not a lawyer. I don't understand a lot of the lingo and stuff," she said.

On Thursday night, Mcinnis and other tenants gathered at Woodroffe United Church, where Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma held an information session for them.

Many are still grappling with the fallout from the ferocious Canada Day thunderstorm and the flooding that resulted, and looking for help navigating their legal questions.

"We've been deluged by tenants reaching out to ask questions about how to handle the situation," Pasma said.

The session provided people with a list of resources and the chance to ask a paralegal with Community Legal Services Ottawa about their rights.

Tenants were told to document everything, including damage to their apartments and any communication with their landlords. The more detail included in their applications to the Landlord Tenant Board the better, they learned.

"There's many questions, particularly around when is it safe to return to your apartment? What kind of amenities do you need in place? Does there have to be full power? Do you have to have hot water? What happens if your landlord says your apartment is safe, but you don't think your apartment is safe?" Pasma said.

"So it goes a little bit beyond the obvious of whose insurance covers what."

One Ottawa address appears to have been especially hard-hit: When Pasma asked how many attendees were from 30 McEwen Ave., nearly every one of the the roughly 25 people at Thursday's information session raised their hand.

The massive July 1 downpour left the main floor and basement of Saickley Enterprises's 228-unit tower under water. The electrical transformer blew, knocking out power to the entire building.

The elevators broke down and some units were still without hot water as of Thursday.

Still, in a notice to tenants on July 16, Saickley said there were no outstanding Ontario Fire Code issues preventing re-occupancy.

"Many tenants have already returned to their units, even prior to us sending the notice out," the company said in an email to CBC at the time.

"A lot of people are just feeling despair and hopeless," said Tammy Smith, who has lived at 30 McEwen Ave. for eight years. "I want to ride this out. I love my apartment, I love living there, so I want to continue."

She said much of the post-flood focus has been on homeowners, not renters, so Thursday evening's meeting was a "good first step."

"It's a tough situation for everyone in the room," she said. "As tenants, we didn't know where to turn, so I think this was like a light of hope for us."

Jenna Legge is a reporter with CBC in Ottawa. Before that, she worked as a journalist on Prince Edward Island, with earlier stints in Winnipeg and Toronto. She holds a master's degree in international journalism from City University of London, and also studied journalism, law and political science at Carleton University. She can be reached at jenna.legge@cbc.ca