The City of Toronto may soon find itself the target of a lawsuit over that terrible accident in Scarborough last week where an AC unit fell from the 8th floor of an apartment building, striking and killing a 2-year-old child in a stroller.
The lawyer for the family has officially put the city on notice they're considering legal action.
"Because we know the Municipal Licensing Standards has issued orders to the TCHC what we're trying to protect against here is to ensure that those orders, there was some follow up from the city bylaw officers," explains Slavko Ristich.
Minutes from a public meeting in 2017 show ongoing safety concerns related to unsafe, unauthorized tenant installation of AC units and addressing the issuance of orders from the MLS unit related specifically to unsafe installation and removal of AC units.
"So we have already requested through Freedom of Information, I've requested, dating back to 2007, I want copies of every single order issued against the TCHC for unsafe AC units," Ristich says. "If the city's bylaw officers were doing their jobs as they should have been and following up on these orders than the question is 'how did this happen?'"
Bylaw officers actually inspected the 8th floor unit earlier this year. "We have no record of an AC unit in May of this year being installed in that unit. It's not to say there wasn't one installed after the fact," Spokesperson Brad Ross indicates.
He clarifies that bylaw officers don't normally do random inspections. "The city gets involved in a couple of ways. One, if there is major work that is being done and there is an inspection required after the fact. Two, if it's complaint driven. It's not just by happenstance."
Meanwhile, a petition has been launched by a group of concerned citizens requesting Police Chief Mark Saunders to re-open the investigation into the incident. They say it's a matter of public safety and human rights.
Two letters have now also been sent by Ristich to Chief Saunders. "At the time I had the 2007 and 2017 documents and I sent him the letters saying 'Look, I just want to ensure your officers did a full investigation, here. That they had access to all this relevant information and what I would've liked to have seen them do is collect that information and let the Crown make a determination where there is some criminal culpability, here."
Ristich says it appears to him there was a rush to close the investigation, which only lasted 48 hours.