It's been a full year since five people were tragically killed after a resident went on a shooting rampage at a luxury condo in Vaughan, an incident that rocked our industry... but sadly, didn't seem to shock everyone. Ontario's condominium industry has seen a sharp uptick in harassment and violence, and even an incident as disturbing as this doesn't seem to have slowed it down.
Some people believe that this uptick began with the pandemic, and labelled the behaviour as "covid crazy". With the pandemic in our rearview mirror, we can't help but ask... what's the excuse now?
That's just one of many questions that Condoland professionals, volunteers, and residents in the condo are left asking themselves. Other questions include: a year later, what has been done about the issue of harassment and violence in condos? Where's the enforcement, not just the theory? How can managers be better protected in their workplaces? How can directors be better protected when a condo isn't, technically, their workplace? And perhaps, even, what happens when it's Directors causing the harassment, when they're the ones responsible for not only preventing it, but investigating it?
So many questions, but there hasn't been too little time. We should have had more answers by now, and it's (again) no surprise that so many people are upset and have taken to social media to vocalize their perspective and push for change.
Frankly, with the existing challenges and state of our industry, we simply can't afford to keep waiting rather than actioning. Condos are being built at unprecedented rates, new managers are barely trickling in while a mass of staff are heading towards retirement, complaints of being overworked and underpaid has many existing staff questioning whether they should stay or go.... harassment and violence in condos will, undoubtedly, be the straw that breaks the industry's back if we allow this trend to continue.
As Albert Einstein said, "the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything". It's on us, every single one of us, to support each other in this action to make condos safe for those who work, volunteer, and live there. We owe it to each other, and it's long overdue.
So how can you, yes, you, help? Here are our top 3 suggestions:
🤝 Advocate alongside all of us! We invite you to join our advocacy group, whose mission is to initiate and action meaningful changes to make condos safe for all Condoland citizens again.
📰 Stay informed! Keep an eye out for our feature articles that deal with harassment and violence in condos, which will be published as a multi-part series throughout the month of January. Or, better yet, register now and you'll be the first to know as soon as posts are live!
🗣️ Speak up! This industry and issue needs your voice, and your collaboration with the collective voice, to create the changes we all want and need to see across the condominium sector.
It's time to come together, collaborate, and interconnect as a collective condo community that opposes harassment and violence in condos by advocating for change and actioning it as required going forward. While this isn't a light topic, especially as we head into the holidays, it certainly is a necessary one.
Join us as we advocate for condo safety for all Condoland Citizens. We can't win this fight without you!
-Stratastic Inc.
P.S. We've got your back! Join our mission by becoming a Stratastic member now - it's free!