Yukon government stubbornness blamed for Whitehorse man's eviction
Ted Shepherd says he's being evicted because the government and his landlord can't agree on his rent
Whitehorse resident Ted Shepherd is being evicted from his downtown apartment because of an impasse between his landlord and the government, according to Shepherd.
He has been given an eviction notice for Oct. 31.
Shepherd lives on social assistance, with the government paying his rent and utilities directly to the landlord.
A social services regulation requires the social services department to reduce the rent payment every spring, to reflect lower utility costs. However, Shepherd's landlord, Yukon Inc. 34127, didn't agree with the reduction.
The building superintendent, Butch Dupont, sent Shepherd a letter in early June, telling him his $950 rent for that month was $32 short and it needed to be paid, forewarning the full rent had to be paid in July, August and September as well.
Shepherd applied to Social Services for the additional money, but was refused in early July.
"They're saying I have to take money out of my food allowance or out of my other issues here, and pay it to the landlord. That doesn't seem right to me," said Shepherd.
Then, the department relented, offering to pay the back rent to the landlord, on the understanding it would come out of Shepherd's social assistance payments.
But Shepherd said it was too late, and the landlord refused to the rescind the eviction. He said his social worker told him that the building superintendent was tired of being disrespected.
'An irritation on an irritation'
A spokesperson for the department, Pat Living, can't talk about individuals, but said that the practice of reducing payments in the spring months has been in place for many years and both landlords and tenants are aware of the rules.
"If a landlord is receiving rent directly from government, then they are also advised of individual situations and how our payments are laid out under regulation," said Living, adding that regulations cannot be changed to accommodate individual situations.
A letter from social services to Shepherd's MLA, New Democrat Liz Hanson, said there were other issues leading to his eviction besides the issues with rent, but did not elaborate.
Hanson said this has been an ongoing issue over the years for various tenants on social assistance, and that she's not blaming landlords.
"What happens is that over time is it's just an irritation on an irritation," she said.
"And it would be easy enough for the government if they're saying that they're paying for all inclusive rent, then they sort it out with the landlord."
Hanson said it's possible Shepherd's rent at a another location will cost more than it does now.
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