HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-07-27, Page 23THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1994. PAGE 23.
Bill passes allowing apartments in houses
The apartments in houses
provisions of-the Residents' Rights
Act, which allow homeowners to
create an apartment in their house,
are now law.
The Residents' Rights Act (Bill
120) makes it legal for
homeowners to have one self-
contained apartment in their house,
provided it meets the Fire and
Building Codes and reasonable
municipal planning standards.
"Tenants living in apartments in
Hospital struck with 8 layoffs
A local hospital has been hit with
layoffs which will be effective
Sept. 18.
Seven nurses and one orderly at
Alexandra Marine and General
Hospital (AMGH) in Goderich will
be placed on temporary layoff
beginning in the fall and the facility
will have to close 16 beds, shutting
down the entire ward of 2 West.
Hospital administrator Ken
Engelstad said the reduction in staff
and beds is due to the low patient
population since April. The approx
MPP seeks support for farmers
By Paul Klopp, MPP Huron
After the session ended, I
travelled to Winnipeg for the
Provincial Minister's Agricultural
Conference with Elmer Buchanan.
It was an exciting conference
which could result in some
significant benefits to our farmers.
We discussed the impact of free
trade on Canadian agriculture.
/ There was a consensus among all
the ministers of agriculture that we
need to be able to clearly identify
produce grown in Canada as
houses can now freely exercise the
same rights as the rest of Ontario's
tenant population. If tenants feel
their apartment is unsafe they can
take action without the fear of
automatic eviction. And
homeowners are legally obliged to
make sure their apartments meet
safety standards," said Evelyn
Gigantes, Minister of Housing.
As part of today's announcement,
the Ministry of the Solicitor
imately 100-bed hospital has seen
an average of 70 patients with num
bers dipping as low as the 40s.
Mr. Engelstad says the availabili
ty of more medical treatments
through outpatient services and
shorter hospital stays has lessened
the bed requirements.
President of the Local 52 of the
Ontario Nurses Association Debbie
Selkirk says the layoffs are not sur-
prising. AMGH has been lucky
because there has been no layoff in
recent years as in other facilities.
Canadian for the consumer. This
means that we don't want people in
grocery stores to be fooled by
packaging or the place of
processing into thinking that they
are supporting Canadian farmers
when in fact they are not.
Elmer Buchanan and I feel
strongly about this and intend to
push it at the provincial and federal
levels. •
At the same time, there was a
recognition that we need to
streamline regulations regarding
General and Correctional Services
also released new Fire Code
standards, under the Fire Marshals
Act, designed specifically for
apartments in houses.
The Fire Code amendments
include comprehensive measures to
ensure that houses containing two
units are safe. The amendments
spell out new fire safety require
ments for such houses including
fire separations, means of escape in
the event of fire, installation of
Services allowing patients and
elderly to stay home have reduced
the need for hospital staff, but the
change is good for the public.
Gary Chambers, local representa
tive of the Services Employees
International Union says the
employees have five days to decide
if they want to take the layoff or
transfer to another department.
The union representatives say the
eight layoffs will take place
whether it is the eight given notice,
or others, if the original eight
decide on transfers.
packaging and health. We need to
protect the consumer and the
integrity of Canadian producers
while keeping interfering rules to a
minimum.
We also discussed a number of
long-term safety net issues and I
hope that these will bear fruit.
I am very happy that the session
is now over and I have an
opportunity to spend more time out
and about the riding in the next
month enjoying Huron County and
seeing many of you.
smoke alarms and electrical safety.
Homeowners are required to
install smoke alarms by August 13,
1994, which is within 30 days of
the bill’s proclamation. Require
ments for fire separations, means of
escape and electrical safety must be
met by July 14, 1996. Those who
fail to meet these new standards
may face a fine of up to $25,000.
New Ontario Building Code
provisions are also in place to
provide homeowners with uniform
standards which are applied when
they apply for building permits for
die creation or upgrading of second.
units.
There are more than 100,000
apartments in houses in Ontario
which, until now, have been illegal
due to municipal zoning by-laws.
As a result, tenants in those units
could not exercise their rights to a
safe, secure unit. Although these
tenants are protected under the
Landlord and Tenant Act and the
Rent Control Act, complaining to
local inspectors could have resulted
in the tenant being evicted from the
illegal apartment.
"We introduced this legislation
because we knew that we couldn't
make these apartments safe until
they were legal. An illegal
apartment means tenants and
landlords are on their own when it
comes to health and safety. Now
we can start making sure that
apartments in houses meet fire and
safety standards," Ms Gigantes
said.
In addition to the already broad
powers of entry currently available
to fire inspectors, Bill 120 also
offers somewhat improved powers
of entry for property standards and
zoning officers.
The apartments in houses portion
of Bill 120 also allows
municipalities to enter into
agreements with homeowners to set
up a garden suite or 'granny flat' on
their property.
The Residents' Rights Act also
extends tenant protection laws to
residents living in unregulated care
homes. These provisions of the act
are scheduled to be proclaimed by
the end of August.
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