Calgary tenants left in the cold in dispute with building management

Residents in a downtown Calgary apartment build are angry, claiming multiple floors in their building were left powerless during some of the coldest weather the city has recently seen.

They say power went on and off sporadically throughout the weekend when temperatures approached -40 C.

But, on Sunday night, with lows past -35 C, they say they were left in the dark.

“Power went off around 9:30, despite 20-30 phone calls to both of our emergency numbers, nobody answered,” tenant Jason Giroux told CityNews. “And the power remained off until some time in the twilight.

“This is the third year we’ve had to endure something like this. This has been the absolute worst though.”

His family huddled together to stay warm, and on Monday morning, an explanation came from the building superintendent — a text saying the “government shut down the power” with a screenshot of the emergency grid alert sent out Saturday evening.

Both the province and Enmax confirmed to CityNews that was not the case, with Enmax saying, “Any outage to this address is not related to AESO or Enmax equipment or actions.

“What is the building going to do about it?” Giroux asked the superintendent further.

“Absolutely nothing — blaming tenants using electrical heaters to supplement the substandard heat the building is providing,” Giroux said, referring to a response from the superintendent in a text exchange.

“It was about 12-below in our unit by the window — 12-below,” he added.

CityNews spoke with another tenant of the building who was also frustrated, saying the lack of accountability is insulting.

They feel they can’t do anything about it for fear of retaliation: if they complain, they could end up homeless.

Calgary tenant advocacy group ACORN says it’s something all too familiar.

In the winter, the organization gets calls weekly from tenants at apartments around the city saying they have improper heating.

“People are afraid to speak up and to address the issues because they’re afraid that they might end up homeless without any other recourse,” Keegan Colwell, a member of Calgary’s ACORN Tenant’s Union, told CityNews.

“I absolutely believe there will be reprisals,” Giroux added. “But we’re at a point where the truth absolutely has to come out.

“There are 199 more units besides us.”

He feels the building superintendent and maintenance worker did what they could to help tenants.

A contractor was sent Monday to repair broken pipes.

Giroux says the contractors told him they’ve been recommending repairs to management for years.

“We’re not just pieces of paper, we’re not just revenue sacks, we’re people,” he said. “It’s about time to take accountability for your shortcomings and do what’s right.”