To the Editor,
As a property manager in Grey-Bruce County, I’m sounding the alarm on an urgent and worsening crisis. Government programs like the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), meant to help vulnerable people, are being grossly abused — and landlords and working taxpayers are paying the price.
ODSP is funded by taxpayers — the hard-working class of this province — yet much of that money ends up in the hands of people who are not truly disabled, but rather long-time drug users, alcoholics, or those unwilling to work. I deal with these individuals as tenants. Many use ODSP not to stabilize their lives, but to avoid responsibility and accountability. A common pattern? They stop paying rent, damage the units, cause daily disruption in the buildings, and then hide behind an overburdened Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).
In one case I’m involved in, we’ve been waiting 18 months for a non-payment hearing. During that time:
• We’ve lost rent.
• We’ve lost access to the unit.
• We’ve still paid taxes to fund the system that enabled this abuse.
The LTB process is so slow and imbalanced that it effectively punishes landlords three times: once by losing rental income, again by being denied timely justice, and a third time because we, as taxpayers, also fund the ODSP income that’s not being used responsibly. The police often can’t act because of how the laws are written, and landlords are left holding the bag.
The system appears broken — or worse, by design.
I urge others in this region to speak out. We’re being taken advantage of. Many of us are reaching the point of considering leaving this province altogether because of how dysfunctional things have become. The government needs to stop enabling abuse, reform the LTB, and restore basic fairness to taxpayers and landlords who are following the rules.
Sincerely,
Negar Khorasani, Markdale
