Thirty Torontonians were spared evictions Friday, after an Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal office was occupied and shut down by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and anti-poverty activists.

The protest went smoothly, with no arrests and only minimal “huffing” indignation by landlords who were present to evict their tenants, according to John Clarke, an OCAP organizer.

The occupation of the housing tribunal came as a warning to the provincial Liberal government, led by Dalton McGuinty, that poor people in Ontario need to be included in the next provincial budget, that is set to be announced in the coming months.

“Poor people are having to choose between feeding their families or paying the rent,” says Clarke. “The next budget has to increase welfare rates by 40 per cent or reinstate the Special Diet Supplement.”

The Special Diet Supplement is an allowance given out to Ontarians on disability or social assistance who are deemed in need of extra money for food. In the past, OCAP and other anti-poverty organizations as well as healthcare providers in the province have argued that all welfare and disability recipients need the extra money per month for food.

In November 2005, the McGuinty government drastically cut back the Special Diet Supplement due to increases in its usage.

OCAP says that this cutback, on top of the 22 per cent cut in welfare rates by the previous Tory government led by Mike Harris, has left poor people in Ontario with the inability to pay for both food and shelter.

If they choose food, OCAP says they will end up at the Housing Tribunal, which is why they shut it down on Friday.

“I heard someone say that the Tenant Protection Act was ‘drive-thru justice for landlords’,” says Clarke. He says it takes about five minutes at the Housing Tribunal to put an eviction into effect.

Dan McIntyre, the program coordinator of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, agrees.

“It’s faster than the fastest dry cleaner in town,” he says of the eviction process.

He says that evictions went up 11 per cent in Ontario in 2005, with about 2,000 evictions per month in Toronto alone.

Though the McGuinty government campaigned on making the Tenant Protection Act fairer, McIntyre says he’s seen only a few minor changes in procedure and rent guidelines.

He’s also quick to point out that the eviction rates recorded exclude those people who did not fight their eviction.

In Ontario, if a tenant misses rent, she can be served an eviction notice the day rent is due. She then has 14 days to pay her rent before the landlord applies to the Housing Tribunal. Usually, cases get scheduled at the tribunal within a week, meaning in many cases, tenants have less than a month to find a new place to live before they are legally removed.

“The Special Diet was making a difference,” says McIntyre. “I’m glad to see [OCAP] doing things of that nature.”

OCAP promises to do more actions in the time leading up to the budget.

An update published on their website on February 10 outlines what’s to come in the months ahead:

“Rich corporations that benefit from welfare cuts and sub-poverty wages will be targeted. Wealthy consumers, who have had their fat tax breaks financed by lowering welfare rates, can expect this campaign to focus on their lavish habits…We want our money back and we intend to make sure the Liberals pay up.”

Government officials did not return telephone calls.