'It's all we have': Family of paralyzed Inuk dancer fights eviction from Toronto home

In what seems to be a series of unfortunate events, the family of a paralyzed Inuk dance student is now facing eviction from their home — the Toronto apartment they've rented for almost two decades.

After a tragic swimming accident in 2015 during a Christmas vacation in Cuba's Varadero beach, Napu Boychuk broke his neck, shattering his dreams for a career as a professional ballet dancer.

Tuutalik Boychuk, Napu's sister, learned about the family's eviction notice in late June, and is calling foul against the landlord who she thinks wants to get new tenants to hike up the rent.

It's our family home base. It's all we have.- Tuutalik Boychuk, Napu's sister 

Currently, the family pays just over $1,700 plus utilities for their 2.5-bedroom apartment  in Toronto's Midtown neighbourhood — as long-term tenants, their rent is controlled by incremental increases under current rules.

But if a new tenant moves in, a landlord can raise the rent as desired.

One to two-bedroom apartments in Toronto's Midtown can range between $1,800 and $3,500, according to popular rental ad sites.

His sister says the apartment is the place Napu first discovered his love for ballet.

"When he started taking ballet lessons, his whole experience of falling in love with the profession of ballet happened in that home," said Boychuk. Her mother also died of cancer in the living room in 2003, she added.

"It's our family home base. It's all we have."

Napu and his father Dan Boychuk lived in the Toronto apartment right before what was supposed to be a two-week vacation in Cuba. After Napu shattered his spine, the two stayed on in Cuba to continue with Napu's medical treatment. Boychuk says she doesn't know when Napu will return, but says her father can return in the near future, if he has a home to come to.

Boychuk says she moved from Nunavut to Kingston, Ont., after the accident to work closer to the family home.

Ever since the accident, Boychuk says family friends or subletters have been staying at the home making sure the nearly century-old apartment didn't have issues while they're gone.

Faulty shower curtain, late rent payments

JDM Apartments Inc., the property's landlord, filed four notices to end tenancy between April and June of this year. The landlord must give the tenant at least one of these notices before filing for an eviction.

The first notice talks about two noise complaints in November 2017, involving "unknown residents" in the apartment. The landlord wrote there was screaming of profanities and slamming doors. The notice also details an issue with a shower curtain letting out a "large amount of water" on the bathroom floor, which allegedly seeped through the floor into the downstairs unit's ceiling.

The next two notices allege the family committed an "illegal act" by "interfering with electrical wiring" in the unit, and plugging in large appliances like extra fridges in closets, which it says may spark a fire due to wire damage. The landlord wrote it's holding the family responsible for $12,000 to fix these issues.

This family has gone through enough.- Kevin Laforest, lawyer in Brampton, Ont.

The last notice details seven late rent payments since January 2017.

Stephen Smith, property manager for JDM Apartments, did not respond to any of CBC's several emails and voicemails.

The landlord filed an eviction order asking the family to leave by July 3 — which was stayed after Boychuk filed for a review.

Tribunal won't hear family's side of the story

Boychuk says the landlord's reasons for eviction are not substantial.

Last Wednesday, Boychuk attended a review hearing expecting to tell her side of the story.

The Ontario Landlord and Tenants Board, which acts as a court between parties, denied Boychuk her chance to tell her side of the story because she missed the first hearing. Boychuk told the adjudicator it was because she missed checking the mailbox, as she works hours away.

"Terrible. Just defeated. Helpless," Boychuk said that's how she feels.

When asked why the board denied the family a chance to speak, the board's spokesperson told CBC that it does not provide interviews.

Boychuk said the "unknown residents" of the noise complaints were let in the unit unbeknownst to her by a friend of Napu's. She said when she learned of the issue, she drove to Toronto immediately to remove their belongings from the unit.

I fundamentally believe nobody should lose their home without having a hearing.- Kenneth Hale, Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario

Boychuk added that she's the breadwinner for the family of three and the financial strains from the accident contributed to the late payments; but after receiving the notice, she submitted post-dated cheques until December to mitigate the issue.

Boychuk said this isn't the first time the landlord filed an eviction order in a similar manner. Back in 2008, she said the adjudicator ruled in favour of the family. 

CBC was not able to independently verify the landlord's and Boychuk's claims.

Lawyers say family should be heard

Kevin Laforest, a lawyer in Brampton, Ont., who's taken on several tenants rights cases, said he believes Boychuk did "exactly what she would need to do" to mitigate the landlord's concerns.

After reviewing the documents, Laforest said he questions whether the electrical wiring and plugging in fridges constitutes as illegal — and added that typically in a Toronto context, the notice for "illegal acts" is used to evict tenants involved with drugs and guns. Laforest added that late rent payments by a few days are common.

"The fact that the [landlord] served multiple notices, I think they're just trying to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks," said Laforest.

Laforest said, although he believes there may have been errors on both sides, given the family's "extenuating circumstances," the board should have heard both sides to come to a just conclusion.

"Only one side of the story was considered, much to the detriment of the family," said Laforest.

"This family has gone through enough. They've suffered through a lot ... Maybe they just need a bit of a break here."

Kenneth Hale thinks likewise.

"I fundamentally believe nobody should lose their home without having a hearing."

But Hale, legal director with Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, asks whether the current rules should protect people who aren't living in their home.

"Maybe they still do feel it's their home, but I don't know that that's the definition of home that the Residential Tenancies Act is set up to protect."

Hale added that the situation will ultimately result in the landlord's financial benefit.

Both lawyers say Boychuk's next step is to make an appeal to the courts about the board's decision with the help of a lawyer.

It is unclear what the landlord now plans to do, and the family can potentially be evicted by force through the Sheriff's office any day now.

• MORE NORTH NEWS | Former Alaska bank employee suspected of stealing $4.3M extradited to U.S.
• MORE NORTH NEWS | 'We aren't bad people,' says Nunavut family living in a tent in front of the legislature

• Read more articles from CBC North, like us on Facebook for updates and community photos and subscribe to our CBC North newsletter for the day's news at a glance.