LATEST STORIES:
Residents at downtown McMaster residence hold demonstration, demand pause in rent
Tenants from a McMaster-owned residence in Hamilton are calling on the school to pause all rent payments until the building is fixed.
Members from CUPE 3906, a union at McMaster University, rallied behind the tenants from 10 Bay Street South, demanding a complete pause on rent until the school revolves all the issues plaguing the 30-storey unit.
“The water is not safe to drink,” said CUPE 3906 Vice-President Maison Fitzpatrick. “Although they’ve been denying that for months and months now, they finally agreed to do something about that, but it’s going to require moving tenants out of the building.”
Earlier this week, McMaster sent a letter to the tenants informing them that they would have to vacate the building for six days starting Feb. 4 while contractors repair the building’s water system.
READ MORE: Fixing contaminated water at McMaster residence means all tenants must leave
“We’re demonstrating because we’re mad that McMaster has poisoned us,” student and tenant Elliot Goodell Ugalde said. He added that the school needs to be more transparent with the residents at 10 Bay Street.
Fitzpatrick said the contaminated water has already sent one student to the hospital. “This situation hasn’t been rectified. We deserve to know what’s in our water and what is making us so sick.”
“The school has been as transparent as the water itself, opaque and cloudy at best.”
In a statement, McMaster University said that it’s continuing to consult with Hamilton’s public health department. “We continue to offer bottled water to all tenants and have advised residents of extra steps they could choose to take, including boiling water, if they had additional concerns.”
Hamilton city councillor Cameron Kroetsch said no one should have been permitted to move in.
While the school is offering to cover the costs of the temporary relocation and front the bill for any associated expenses, some think more needs to be done and that the school should have never allowed tenants to move in in the first place.
“As far as I’m concerned no one should have moved in here until this building was healthy, safe, double check for quality to make sure you know everybody living here can comfortably do so,” Kroetsch said.
Kroetsch says students living in this building have academic responsibilities, and the situation is unfair.
READ MORE:
