Threatened with dogs, harassed, and forced to relocate, a now-homeless Kingstonian tells his story

Kingston’s housing crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic has been making news lately more than ever, a published letter in Kingstonist showcased the sheer lack of efficacy and priority that the Kingston Housing and Homeless Committee faced, and the continued failure of current housing options racks this city, it’s clear the time to do something is now.

The situation could hardly seem more dire, and it’s all the more real in this interview with a homeless resident simply identified as Charles, a lifelong Kingstonian who moved from Cornwall at 6 months old.

“I paid rent… then lost my job. Then COVID hit, and here we are… It’s sad really, I lived 41 years of my life in Kingston, and I can’t find an apartment.”

Charles tells members of the Katarokwi Union of Tenants and the Kingston Peace Council of the struggles he’s faced with Kingston’s housing, landlords, and antagonistic residents.

With an amazing level of good-natured humour, Charles begins the video by saying that bylaw officers arrived at the location at 3am to ID the residents and tell them that they needed to vacate the area, with no suggestions to move other than “Safe Bets”.

“I never even heard of that… the only other location I know is on Montreal Street and it’s not the friendliest of places.”

One of the interviewers then says that the Montreal location is full every night and that there’s drugs and theft there.

“It happens here, too, the theft. But there’s no drugs here.”

Charles also discusses the housing experiences he’s faced in Kingston. In one instance he had paid $2,400 in rent, but a rental officer who wasn’t informed kicked them out and the money was not returned. In another, he had taken an extended lease and been saddled with $4,200 in back-rent. In that case, an agreement was reached that Charles and the other renter would each pay an extra $100 a month. Once the other renter failed to do so one month, Charles was summarily evicted.

“As soon as I moved out… the rent went from $720 to $990. That’s the problem, y’know. They recycle us through the apartment so they can raise the rent.”

But the worst housing story was about a housing option that was affordable… but infested with rats.

“Woke up with a sewer rat on my chest… my cat was growling at the wall. It was trying to come through the wall at my cat.”

“How did you end up there?”

“Cheap rent… it was $1000 for a three bedroom at the loft. The loft was unlivable, as the rats were still… plentiful I guess you’d say.”

Arguably, the most tragic parts of the video, are the stories of harassment that Charles has experienced by residents of Kingston. In one moment, Charles says people have come by to take pictures of the encampment so they can add map locations to their tents online. In another, an old man with a rottweiler has threatened them to goad them into retaliation, which he would then use as a reason to call the police.

“It’s not like he’s any better off than I was… just I hit a stump in the road. It takes a while to clear it…”

In another instance, Charles was in litigation for almost a year in a housing scenario where he had video of cockroaches in the unit’s microwave. But he described the lawyer who was supposed to represent him, scrutinizing him instead.

“Here are some three cockroaches dancing around the carousel of your microwave… You have video of that and you don’t get to show it? I still got video… didn’t even get a chance to bring it up. Told to wait your turn you didn’t get.”

“Last time I checked we’re Canada… we don’t live in a dictatorship I didn’t think…”

Interviewer: “Well what do you think though, is it a dictatorship?”

“More than not, yeah, for sure it is. Do as we say, not as we do.”

Charles didn’t have all negative things to say about his scenario, he spoke positively about a worker through Home Base Housing, Ryan.

“He comes quite regularly, at least twice a week… Check-in, bring blankets… socks, food from Tommy’s.”

But he still expresses frustration with the system, he’s been put through three people before they even “sit down to pick an address.” Whether in Kingston or anywhere in Canada.

When asked about the solution, Charles has some powerful words.

“We need affordable housing… We’re not a big city, but we’re paying big city money in rent.”

“I was one of those people, I wasn’t aware. And then I hit the situation, and thankfully I had a friend that knew a place.”

“Get things right,” Charles tells the interviewers “It’s sickening… something has to be done.”

Charles said that the bylaw officers told him he needed to relocate by the 25th, and if he didn’t, they would tear down his stuff down. It is powerful though, that Charles plays the level of humour he does even in his grim situation.

“You run from a fisher, you find it’s a rabbit though… it’s kind of embarrassing” he laughs.

The unfortunate reality is that Charles is only one story in the myriad of citizens that Kingston has left behind in the homeless crisis. The city evicted peaceful Belle Park residents, and has given them little to no alternatives. Rent is higher than what people can afford, the housing available now is inadequate, landlords are hostile, and methods available to tenants to resolve issues are stacked against them.

The solution is clear, Kingston needs affordable housing, income-geared rent, and stronger protections for tenants, and we need it now.

Scott Pinkerton is a writer for The Beaverton, and runs the YouTube channel Pinko Punko. He can be found on Twitter.