THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board has succeeded in terminating the tenancy of a person it accused of impairing the safety of others in one of its housing complexes.
The board's application to evict the woman was approved in a decision issued in June by the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board.
DSSAB alleged she had permitted the trafficking of drugs out of her apartment, and had been involved in an incident that left a visitor injured.
In December 2024, it said, security camera video showed a woman leaving her unit and walking toward the elevators, to which she was followed by the tenant and another person with a large dog.
"You appear to be shoving her (the unknown woman) and yelling at her. The dog then attacks...biting and ripping at her arm as she tries to get in the elevator...and you hold the door open with your foot so (the other person) and her dog can enter the elevator."
DSSAB's notice of termination to the tenant stated she then had a conversation with a male tenant who pursued the injured woman, butted her in the head several times, removed a bottle of alcohol from her, and delivered it to the tenant.
While the assault was in progress, video showed blood on the victim's arm where she'd been attacked by the dog.
The social services board cited a previous incident, in November 2024, that saw Thunder Bay Police go to the tenant's unit to arrest a man who had attacked another man by stabbing him in the face at another location.
While at her unit, the board said, police also arrested two underage youth for trafficking in drugs.
DSSAB maintained that in the weeks leading up to this incident it had received multiple complaints of heavy traffic in and out of the tenant's apartment, and that she was aware that drugs were being sold there.
The board's representative at the OLTB hearing testified that in the last two years there have been reports of daytime shootings, drug overdoses and weapons being found in common areas of the complex, and that it has been working towards improvements out of concern for other vulnerable tenants.
Thunder Bay Police have confirmed to Newswatch that they charged a man with assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, being unlawfully in a dwelling, and failure to comply with a probation order after the November 2024 incident.
But because DSSAB did not arrange for direct police testimony or police reports about the incident and related charges, the Landlord and Tenant Board dismissed that portion of the eviction application.
However, it did accept the "uncontested evidence" about the incident of physical aggression against a woman in the building lobby in December 2024, saying it was concerning that the tenant "stood by and observed the woman being mounted by her guest's dog and did nothing to remove the dog off the female's arm," despite witnessing the dog biting her.
The board member who heard the application concluded the DSSAB had proved the tenant and someone she permitted into the building had committed an illegal act inside the complex, and that this justified her eviction effective no later than the end of June.
In May of this year, the OLTB also approved the termination of the tenancy of a resident of the DSSAB complex at Andras Court on Cumberland Street, after finding she had permitted entry to the building by individuals who committed violent acts inside the complex.
