Saturday, September 18, 2010

New Dumpster Delivered Where Garbage Was On Ground

I sent an email to 311 on Sept 13 to take care of the garbage that was dumped on the ground behind one of the houses in my back lane. I specifically requested that the issue be submitted as a complaint regarding the residence dumping garbage on the ground and not in a dumpster. I also requested the issue be directed to the attention of Waste Management and asked if a dumpster could be placed in that location. I said there was a large gap between dumpsters where that residence was located.
My request to have the issue sent to the two different departments was done, and I was given reference numbers for each "ticket" created.
My request to have a dumpster placed behind the residence was also followed through. There is now a dumpster sitting behind the house in question. And the dumpster is now almost full. I think there may have been a need for a dumpster at that very location.
It is moments like this that I feel my words are not in vein. :)

Woken up at 3:48AM - sent complaint to 311

I was woken up again from the Party Duplex bringing their loud shouting, swearing and unpleasant banter outside. This time it only lasted twenty minutes. I think it was 4 degrees below zero last night. I guess they didn't like the temperature and went back inside by 4:10. But that did not change the fact that we were woken up again. And we were kept awake for twenty minutes while listening to these inconsiderate people yelling and swearing at each other.
I sent an email to 311. I am lodging a complaint regarding noise. According to the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law, this noise is not acceptable. Here's hoping something will get done.


I would like to make a noise complaint regarding ####### Ave.
I was woken up last night at 3:48AM by loud shouting and swearing coming from the back yard of ####### Ave. This went on for twenty minutes last night.
I was also woken up last weekend by noise coming from the back yard of ####### Ave.
Sunday Sept 12 at 3:00am I was woken up by loud yelling and swearing. It went on for two hours, until 5:00am. A guest of ####### Ave, who drives a burgundy K-Car was also driving his loud car up and down the alley all night, starting at about midnight. The car has no muffler and makes a terrible noise.
I was also woken up on Saturday morning Sept 11 at 4:20am by loud yelling and swearing coming from the back yard of ####### Ave. The woman yelling in the back yard was also smashing a vehicle that was in the same back yard.
I was also woken up by loud yelling, swearing, screaming, threats to neighbours, breaking of windows, breaking of fence on the morning of Aug 20 at 4:30am coming from the same back yard. This incident resulted in the police arriving the next day and action being taken, including the residents leaving. But it was only a temporary relocation and they residents are back. They are continuing the disturb the neighbourhood.
According to the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law, this noise is not acceptable. I would like action taken regarding this issue. I would like to know what is being done with this issue.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Comment: "nothing happened until they murdered someone on our front street"

I received a comment on a post I did on Sunday Sept 12 entitled I Call The Police This Morning For Advise On The Party Duplex . This post was regarding a problem house on my block. The neighbourhood has been calling the police all summer regarding problems with drinking and loud shouting matches all night long. The By-Law Officers have been called regarding large amounts of garbage in the yard. The tenants were temporarily removed at the end of August. The house was cleaned out. And the tenants moved back in. Now the partying has started again. When I called the police I was told to just keep calling when there are isues and eventually the landlord will get tired of dealing with the issue and evict the tenants.
The comment I received reads as follows:
It has to get very bad before the police will actually do anything, i called the police, landlord and eventually the real estate agent on the sign at the property that was the source of hell beside my home, nothing happened until they murdered someone on our front street.
I hope it never gets that bad for you and your neighbors.
There needs to be a change to the Residential Tenancy Act. There needs to be a change to the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law. The problem houses need to be dealt with long before a murder occurs in someones front yard.

Thursday is Garbage Day In My Back Lane

Sure enough, 6am I heard the garbage truck coming down the lane. I sure am getting service these days. I could set my calendar to the garbage trucks now. Even civic holidays don't disrupt my Thursday garbage day. And this week the dumpsters were not even overflowing. There were a few dumpsters that were actually full, but not all of them. I think this week we only had regular residential garbage in our dumpsters. How weird is that!!!
There were a few issues in the back lane though. First, there is a dresser, two chairs and a foam mattress beside one of the dumpsters. The dresser has been there since Sept 4, and the foam mattress and chairs have been there since at least the 11th of Sept. I guess I was just wondering if they would be removed without me making a ticket. I am getting the feeling that I am the only one on my block that is reporting these items to 311. I was thinking that the paid employee of the City of Winnipeg that drives down the lanes verifying tickets might also drive down lanes looking for items for pickup. Maybe that was a little wishful thinking on my part. I will get on that today and report the items to 311 so the City worker can drive down my lane and verify that the items do need to be picked up. I think I should take a walk down the other lanes in my area as well, then, and see what other items have collected since the last time I did a back lane check. What would these people do without me? Maybe I should become a City Worker. Maybe 311 should put me on the payroll to walk or drive down back lanes and streets and report all the large items that are just sitting there, week after week. I could follow the garbage trucks and take note of the items they leave behind.
I could locate back yards where people leave their garbage in bags thinking the garbage trucks will pick it up. Here is a pile of garbage that is missing a dumpster. This garbage has been here since Sept 4. The people moved out of the house where these items are sitting. They did not bother to walk the garbage to one of the dumpsters in the back lane. The garbage trucks do not pick up anything that is not in a dumpster, and because this is just on the ground, it will stay there until I make a ticket to tell someone about it. I actually did make a ticket a few days ago. I requested that it be sent to City By-Laws for investigation. I also requested that this issue be looked at by those that decide where dumpsters go. There is a big gap in space between dumpster locations on either side of this particular residence. Maybe part of the fault in this garbage being dumped on the ground is that there is no dumpster close to this property. I wonder if one of the dumpsters at the end of the lane will get moved over behind that house. That would make sense to me. Why have a huge gap, then three dumpsters at the end of the lane.
If I was patrolling the back lanes of the North End I could also keep an eye on houses that choose to leave their garbage right below their upstairs windows. The upstairs tenant of the Party House is still tossing garbage out the window, and it just stays on the ground below. As the weeks go by, the garbage pile will grow, I am sure. It will grow until finally it is at the point where the City By-Laws officers will request the landlord to clean the property again.
The apples are still falling from the tree in the back yard of the Party House, and remaining on the ground. Nobody is cleaning them up. They are on the ground rotting and turning into muck. I could not imagine walking on that lawn. There are kids in the house and kids that play in the yard. The apples just squish under ones foot if they are stepped on. And the apples are still full of wasps. And the apples are feeding any animal around that needs to feed. I read the liveability act. This should not be an acceptable back yard. If I was employed to go down the back lanes and look for issues like this I could report them. But I am not. I am just a resident of one city block. I am just a resident who reached a tipping point. I am just one resident in the North End trying to take back my neighbourhood.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Residential Tenancies Act for Manitoba and Us

I found a copy of the Residential Tenancies Act for Manitoba on the provincial website at

Its a good read, if you have the time. I copied a few choice sections at the bottom of this blog entry for your convenience. Items of interest, so to speak.
It seems that the Landlord is obligated to investigate complaints about their tenant(s). They must "make a reasonable effort to remedy the situation". Thats a very subjective statement in a legal tenancy act. What is considered a reasonable effort? Who determines that a reasonable effort was made? How reasonable was the effort? How accountable is the landlord to prove that it was a reasonable effort? What if the neighbours do not agree in the reasonableness of the effort? Do we make another complaint? Do we wait and see how reasonable the next effort is to remedy the situation? Is there a limit to the number of reasonable efforts the landlord can and should make to remedy the situation? Who counts the number of efforts the landlord makes in trying to remedy the situation? Then there is the clause that states a landlord cannot evict if there is a school age child attending school currently.
I just want to sleep at night. I just don't want to hear loud swearing and threats all night. I just want a back yard that is not so full of wasps from the apples down the lane that I can actually stay outside for any period of time. I just want to get rid of the mice in my house now that the landlord did house cleaning at the party house. I just want to be included somewhere in the Residential Tenancies Act with some sort of rights.".
Landlord to investigate complaints
67          If a person informs the landlord that a contravention of an obligation imposed by section 73 (tenant's duty not to disturb others) or 74 (tenant's duty not to impair others' safety) has occurred or is likely to occur, the landlord shall without delay enquire into the complaint and make a reasonable effort to remedy the situation.
Obligation to keep unit clean
70          A tenant shall maintain ordinary health, cleanliness and sanitation standards in the rental unit and the residential complex.
Duty not to disturb others
73          A tenant shall not unreasonably disturb, or allow another person the tenant permits in the residential complex to unreasonably disturb,
(a) the enjoyment for all usual purposes of the residential complex or any other rental unit by the landlord, another tenant or occupant of the residential complex, or a person permitted in the residential complex by any of those persons;
(b) the enjoyment of adjacent property for all usual purposes by occupants of that property.
Impairment of safety by tenant
74          A tenant or a person the tenant permits in the residential complex shall not by act or omission impair the safety or other lawful right or interest of the landlord, another tenant or occupant of the residential complex, or a person permitted in the residential complex by any of those persons.
No termination when school age child
94(1)       When a tenant resides with a child in a rental unit that is conveniently accessible to a school, the landlord shall not terminate the tenancy during the school year unless the child is no longer attending a school to which the rental unit is conveniently accessible.
Termination for causes other than failure to pay
96(1)       A landlord may give the tenant a notice of termination if
(a) the tenant contravenes or fails to comply with any of the following provisions of this Act:
(i) repealed, S.M. 1993, c. 45, s. 27,
(ii) subsection 53(2) (change of locks or doors:  rental unit),
(iii) subsection 53(3) (change of locks or doors:  residential complex),
(iv) section 70 (obligation to keep unit clean),
(v) subsection 72(1) (obligation to take care and repair damage),
(vi) section 73 (duty not to disturb others),
(vii) section 74 (impairment of safety by tenant),
(viii) section 76 (overcrowding),
(ix) section 78 (no misrepresentation of premises), or
(x) subsection 42(1) (assign or sublet without consent),
and the tenant fails to remedy the contravention within a reasonable time after receiving written notice to do so by the landlord;
(b) the tenant breaches a material term of the tenancy agreement and fails to remedy the breach within a reasonable time after receiving written notice to do so by the landlord; or
(c) the tenant,
(i) other than a tenant referred to in subclause (ii), fails to comply, within a reasonable time after having received written notice to do so from the landlord, with a rule as required by subsection 11(2) and the observance of the rule is essential to the reasonable operation of the residential complex, or
(ii) who is a tenant in a unit under The Condominium Act, fails to comply, within a reasonable time after having received written notice to do so from the landlord, with the declaration, by-laws or rules under The Condominium Act.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Fruit Share Winnipeg, What A Great Idea

If you have been reading my blog you are aware that I have wasps in my yard. I have a large amount of wasps in my yard. This is from the garbage in the back lanes and from an apple tree a few houses down from me. The apple tree is full of over ripe fruit, and it is falling on the ground and rotting. The apples in the tree are full of wasps and the apples on the ground are absolutely over run with wasps.
I did my civic duty and informed 311 about the issue. They, in turn, referred the issue to the City By-Law Office. But I still have rotting apples on my street, causing odor, wasps, and I am sure rodents.
My husband spoke with the property manager a few weeks ago, when he was shoveling out the suite for the residents. It seems it got too dirty, so the residents were temporarily removed, and house cleaning was performed. I digressed, sorry. The property manager said he did not care if we picked the apples. So, I went into the yard with a ladder and pail. I thought I would solve the problem and pick the remaining apples that were on the tree. I thought I could be a good neighbour and distribute the proceeds to everyone on the block. I began picking and was soon bitten by one of the wasps in the tree. My husband managed to pick half a pail of apples before we were driven out of the yard by the wasps.
In an earlier post I was suggesting that maybe the City By-Law Officers could collect the addresses of these problem trees and have them picked. The fruit could be donated to worthy causes, such as Winnipeg Harvest, soup kitchens, church groups who could bake with them, etc.
Then I was watching Breakfast TV this morning on Channel 5. There was a person on the show talking about a new group in town. They are Fruit Share Winnipeg. They have a blog at
http://fruitsharewinnipeg.blogspot.com/ and are currently working in a few areas of town only. But it is a start. If you have a tree that you would like to get picked, register it on their site. If you want to help picking, register on their site. What a great idea. Did I say that already? Who cares, I will say it again, what a great idea.
Now, what if that organization could get a list of problem trees? What if they could take care of these problem issues and turn them into a great day of picking apples?
What a great idea.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

My Vehicle Was Found At Second Crime Scene

The police just called to tell me they found my minivan. It was abandoned at the second crime scene tonight. Apparently the minivan was stolen and involved in two crimes today.
Yah Police!!
Now I have to contact MPI and do the paper work with them. The van will be going in for finger printing, then get sent to the MPI compound. Once it is there I will be able to have it towed to an autobody shop to have the steering column repaired. Apparently that is the only damage to the vehicle. I am quite familiar with the process I have to go through when a vehicle is stolen. This will be the fourth time in the last few years that I have gone through this process.

1. call police and report vehicle stolen, and get incident number
2. call MPI and report vehicle stolen and give them the incident number
3. wait 48 hours from the time vehicle is stolen and rent a car
4. wait until the vehicle is located and sent to MPI lot and have it towed to the autobody shop of your choice for repairs
5. wait 30 days while the autobody shop takes their time in completing repairs to vehicle
6. get vehicle back, and hope the vehicle still runs the way it did the last time you had it.

If You See My Stolen Van Let Me Know

My husband and I went to the Car Show at Garden City Shopping Center earlier today. When we were finished, we went back to the parking lot in front of Canadian Tire, where we left our red minivan. It was parked about 8 cars from Leila, in line with the entrance to the Canadian Tire. It wasn't there. We checked the parking lot for half an hour. We looked through the parking lot over and over again, wondering why we were not able to find the minivan.
Then we went into the Canadian Tire to see if they decided to tow cars off their lot. They were not towing vehicles. The customer service person called the mall security to see if they were doing any car towing, and we were told they were not towing cars either.
The mall security guard came and took a report from us, and we left, without our car. We took a bus home. All the time we were wondering if maybe we just couldn't find our vehicle and it was lost in the mass of vehicles parked in the lot.
When we got home, I called the police and reported my minivan as missing. I told them we parked the vehicle at 12:30 and it was not there when we were trying to leave at 2:10pm. I still was not sure if we were just not able to find the vehicle in the lot.
Then the phone rang, and it was the police calling. They wanted to know where my vehicle was. I said I was not sure, and explained that we were not able to find it. I said I had reported it stolen about an hour earlier. Well, apparently it had been used in a crime. So now I know there was a valid reason why we were not able to find our minivan. The police have not located the vehicle yet, but did get the license plate on the vehicle used in a crime.
If anyone sees my minivan, can you call the police 986-6222 and let them know where it is please.
It is a red 1995 Chevy Lumini Minivan, license FJA 667.

I Call The Police This Morning For Advise On The Party Duplex

I called the police this morning. I wanted to know what I can do, in a pro-active way, to remove the problems coming from the Party Duplex. I told the officer that I did not call the last two nights in the middle of the night because I was not sure anything would be done. I went through a brief history of the residence and the visits from the Police and the City By-Law Officer. I said even after everyone was removed a few weeks ago, they were brought right back in to the house to start the process over again.
I was met with sympathy and understanding. I was told to call the police in the middle of the night each time there is an issue. I was told the police would try to come out when the issue is happening, and they are not always too busy. I was also given the phone number for my district police office and told to give them a call.
I called the district police office and told that officer the same thing. Again, I was met with sympathy and understanding. I was encouraged to call the Police every time there is an issue, and to call when the issue is in progress. I was also told that there is a Livability Act that I should look into. I was told about the Community Support Unit, and I was told to contact my local MLA. I was told to have my neighbours sign a petition and sent it to my MLA.
I asked the officer what it would actually take to have these tenants removed. I told him that I was a landlord for a while and know that it is very difficult to evict problem tenants. The answer I got was that if we keep calling our complaints in to the police and keep informing the landlord about the issues that eventually the landlord will get tired of it and get rid of the tenants or the tenants will tire of the harrassment and move.
That was not the answer I was looking for. Where are the rights of the neighbourhood? And how bad does it have to get before a landlord finally has the right to, or is forced to evict a tenant?

I took a look at that Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law which I found on line at http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/Documents/DocExt/BL/2008/2008.1.pdf
Under the section of Basic maintenance
Section 4(1) properties must be safe .... and pose no threat to neighbours
Section 5 There is a general obligation to maintain the property
Section 6(1) the property should be free of garbage
Section 8(1) vegetation should not be unsightly
Under the section of Nuisances and Unsanitary Conditions
Section 29(2) the landlord should control infestations of rats, mice, pests and ensure to not provide food or harborage for pests
Section 29(3) there is an obligation to prevent existance of rats, mice, pests
Section 36(4) windows are to be kept in good repair
Section 53(1) occupants must not deposit, discard, leave garbage on street, public place, private property
Under the section for Noise
Section 67(2) noise is looked at by different criteria
  a- time of day / day of week
  b- nature and use of area where noise emanates and nature and use of area where noise is heard
  c- nature of activity producing sound
  d- volume, duration, nature of sound and whether the noise is recurring, constant or intermittent
  e- "the 'A' weighted sound level of the noise or sound and the ambient sound level, if measured, but not 'B', 'C' or 'linear' weighted sound levels (what does that even mean?)

These seem to be the sections of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law that are in violation that I can see from the outside. So why are the tenants back in the house?

Party Duplex At It Again 3:00AM-5:00AM

The party duplex was at it again last night. It was 3:00AM when I woke up to their yelling. The loud banter went off and on for two hours. Last night the woman added crying to her foul mouthed banter. The guy in the K-car without a muffler who seems to stay at the party house most nights was driving his loud muffler-less car up and down the alley all night.
You know, this is the house that had the armed stand-off with the police a few months ago. Our street was blocked off, and the police were crouched down on the outside of their fence with a blow horn saying "come out with your hands up". Yes it was, I put a post in my facebook on April 2/10 "Cops to the left of me ..... Cops to the right of me ... stuck in the middle with a mad man !!!! just 4 doors down ..... hmm"
That party duplex is just more of the same thing, every night.
Give us back our neighbourhood.