MetCap CEO nearly ran over Parkdale protester, community legal worker says

Driver, protester have confrontation in Parkdale A confrontation between a driver and a protestor took place in Parkdale over rent increases. Colin D'Mello reports.

A confrontation between a Parkdale tenant and property management staff was caught on camera on Tuesday amid an ongoing rent strike in the west-end neighbourhood.

Cole Webber, an employee of Parkdale Community Legal Services, told CP24 that the CEO of MetCap Living Management nearly ran over a tenant advocate on Tuesday on Tyndall Avenue, near Dufferin and King streets.

“Tenants at 135 Tyndall went to speak to their property manager about their neighbours who have serious disrepair issues in their unit and they were trying to get MetCap to pay for accommodations for a budget motel for this elderly couple to move out of their apartment for two nights while the repairs were taking place,” Webber said.

“He refused to speak to tenants. He actually ran away.”

At one point, Webber said the property manager called Brent Merrill, the chief executive officer of MetCap, who arrived a short time later in a pickup truck.

When the property manager got in the truck, Webber said tenants continued to insist that the two stay and talk.

In a video of the incident, a tenant is seen standing in front of the vehicle as it attempts to pull away. When the tenant doesn't move, the vehicle accelerates and the tenant is seen quickly running backward before moving aside.

Kevin Laforest, the tenant seen running in front of the truck, said the group “just wanted to talk.”

“They just kept saying, ‘No comment, no comment,’ and running away from us,” he said.

Laforest told CP24 he plans to speak to a lawyer about the incident.

Speaking to The Toronto Star on Tuesday, Merrill said the protesters were trying to chase the property manager.

Merrill told The Star that the vehicle "was moving the whole time," that it "never stopped" and that the man eventually "stepped to the side." He added that his staff should not be threatened just for doing their job.

On May 1, approximately 200 tenants of six Parkdale apartment buildings launched a rent strike, refusing to pay their rent until owners agree to carry out repairs and withdraw their application to impose a rent hike above what the Landlord and Tenant Board typically allows.

Webber said MetCap and AIMCo, the companies who own and operate the buildings, are seeking approval to raise rents by approximately 15 per cent over a three-year period, an increase some say is unreasonable given the poor condition of their units.

Last week, Webber said many of the tenants participating in the rent strike have been handed eviction notices.