A Slumlord’s Abuses Are Exposed When a Tenant is Found Dead in a Trailer During Winter, 2022
Yesterday, a man named Jason, who went by the name of ‘Bear’, who was known well to our production team, died of as yet unknown causes in the backyard of 306 Innisfil St. That is the house directly next door to our studio.
That is where the mobile summer camper trailer was parked in which this human being endured -30-degree temperatures with nothing more than a blanket for protection. No, this man was not homeless. Bear and public money through Disability paid an absentee and negligent landlord more in rent per month than is true of what some people pay for an apartment.
The inadequate ‘rented residence’ was not insulated, other than by some Styrofoam and building materials we had donated to Bear out of our renovations. It was also heated only by a grossly inadequate plug-in space heater. It had no plumbing, only a chemical toilet that was constantly frozen in the winter, and no cooking facilities.
Bear was collecting Disability and he was a desperate man who had nowhere else to go. So, he reluctantly agreed to rent this trailer for the unbelievable sum of $700.00 per month. We know this because we printed off the lease for him in August when we thought it was only a summer arrangement. He was also expected as part of his rental agreement to maintain the property, which later included shovelling snow, and to report to the absentee landlord any issues.
We reported a few things about the management of the house to The City of Barrie and the Barrie Police Service after a frankly obvious dealer in ‘confectionaries’ who lives in the house engaged in an open war outside in the shared driveway.
The entire fight was caught on our surveillance cameras, including the chain saws, several attempts at using a car as a weapon, furniture smashed onto a windshield, and the use of a bat. Regardless of having the video, recorded ultra-clearly in 4K quality, an officer of the Barrie Police Service told us there was nothing they could do. That video can be seen at https://youtu.be/j1HbZwSc0Mc.
As for the City of Barrie, the property was inspected despite the agent admitting he was intimidated by the reputation of the building and because of the video we had provided to him of that fight.
Eventually, it was concluded that a basement apartment that is occupied by a man suffering from brain damage is illegal as is the trailer.
The trailer had minimal insulation with open holes to the outside, a single plug-in space heater was provided by the landlord, the chemical toilet and grey water were constantly frozen, and there was no cooking facilities.
