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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The shoe is on the other foot for one former tenant of the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) a year after taking the union to the NWT rental office to force her landlord to provide access to her apartment through a chain link fence.

The union is seeking $630 in damages after Michele LeTourneau grew tired of waiting for the landlord to comply with a rental office ruling to provide street access to her apartment, and cut a hole through the fence herself.

A gate through the fence was one of options rental officer Hal Logsdon gave the union in January 2012 after another female tenant living in an apartment at the UNW's headquarters on 52 Street complained that tenants were being forced walk down a poorly-lit alley to get to their apartments. The issue had been brewing for the better part of a year after a sidewalk on the east side of the union building was blocked following a fuel spill on a neighbouring property in March 2011.

The union appealed the rental officer's decision to NWT Supreme Court so LeTourneau took the matter into her own hands last April and cut a two-metre hole in the fence that surrounds the union's parking lot.

LeTourneau told Yellowknifer Wednesday that she had initially agreed in June 2012 to pay the UNW the $630 requested for repairs while an actual gate was being installed but never received a breakdown of the costs so she didn't pay. LeTourneau said after talking to two contractors, she determined the work to repair the hole in the fence shouldn't have exceeded $310.

It may not matter to Logsdon, however, after he questioned whether he had jurisdiction to award money for damages to the fence at a rental hearing Wednesday. He didn't say how long it will take to make a decision.

"The cost business and how much it costs, it's interesting and all but it's not the point anymore," said LeTourneau.

"Is (the fence) part of the rental premises or not? It was the union's position that it was never part of the rental premises (in past court hearings). Now it's their position that it is."

The jurisdiction of the rental officer was put under a magnifying glass last month when Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau agreed with the UNW that the rental officer had no authority to order the union to provide 24-hour access to the apartment units through the building's main entrance as one option for providing access to tenants.

"Clarifying the scope of the rental officer's jurisdiction in those circumstances will be useful if similar issues arise in the future," stated Charbonneau in her decision. "The point is, those parts of the building are not part of the rental premises."

Charbonneau welcomed all parties involved in the gate dispute, including the UNW, and tenants LeTourneau, Kathryn Carriere and Annemieke Mulders, to present submissions concerning costs within 14 days of her decision.

The 14 days are up, and all parties have expressed a desire to file submissions on costs.

The hearing is set for March 22. Each party will have a maximum of 30 minutes to make oral submissions.

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