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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After an arduous journey through the Supreme Court system following an appeal of NWT rental officer decisions by the Union of Northern Workers (UNW), Justice Louise Charbonneau handed down her 17-page decision on Tuesday.

Kathryn Carriere is one of the three tenants who fought the Union for Northern Workers, their landlord, for a safer entrance way to their apartments on 52 Street. The gate, shown here when it was installed in summer 2012, has been the centre of a court battle between the tenants and the UNW since November 2011. - NNSL file photo

But one tenant said if she were to have the choice of going through the process all over again, she wouldn't.

Charbonneau dismissed the UNW's appeal of the rental officer's decision to grant Annemieke Mulders, a tenant of an apartment unit in the 52 Street union headquarters, compensation of $100 for various losses that she claimed to have suffered as a result of the change in access to the building - such as giving out cigarettes in the laneway to ensure her protection from harm.

The gate saga began in March 2011 when access to the east side of the building was blocked due to an oil spill and the west side was previously fenced to deter vandalism in the building's back parking lot. One tenant, Kathryn Carriere, filed a complaint to the rental officer in November 2011 that tenants felt using the back alley compromised their personal safety and the rental office ordered for access to be permitted on the west side of the building.

The UNW appealed the decision for an entrance on the west side but after two more tenants, Michele LeTourneau and Mulders, filed complaints as well, the UNW stated in May 2012 it was taking steps to have a locking gate installed. The gate was finally installed in late July, almost a year after the first complaint was issued by a tenant.

"Was it worth it? I don't know," said Mulders.

"I mean it was important to get a gate but had I known what was coming? I might have just moved rather than make a complaint against them."

In her decision, Charbonneau said the UNW argued that the rental officer erred in ordering any compensation at all.

"The type of compensation ordered here, it seems to me, is exactly what the (Residential Tenancies Act) contemplates ought to be dealt with by the rental officer."

Charbonneau did grant the UNW appeal of the rental officer's order to provide 24-hour access to apartment units in the 52 Street union headquarters through the building's main entrance as an option for access to tenants. She said the jurisdictional issues raised in this appeal are important and the decision would benefit the rental officer, other landlords and tenants.

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

Mulders said she agreed with Charbonneau's decision but the length of the process in court was problematic.

"We can view the outcome of this saga as a victory - we have a gate. Yet, the story as a whole is at its core an enormous loss for the tenants of the UNW building, and a terrible message for all other tenants in the NWT who have legitimate complaints against their landlords," she wrote in an e-mail.

"If it was our landlord's intent to bully and intimidate us, to ensure that we will never again bring another complaint against them to the rental office regardless of how heinous their behaviour may be, then they have won. I would rather move than go through this hellish process again."

One of the complainants, LeTourneau, has since moved from the building.

She said she still doesn't understand the UNW's position, why her landlord would fight the gate from the start, but answers are not forthcoming. And neither does Carriere.

"That's caused a great deal of bitterness. Like why did you do this to us? For what purpose?" asked Carriere.

Rental officer Hal Logsdon said a couple of orders that he makes are appealed out of the 300 to 400 orders he makes per year. He said the reason why the rental officer and the administrative tribunal for tenant-landlord disputes exists is to provide a more expedient, user-friendly process.

"Most of them don't last anywhere near this long," he said.

"I think the system works. You can't deprive people the right to appeal what they think is an error. I don't think people should be discouraged with using the process that's here through the tribunal because of the one case, because it really isn't typical of what happens in the vast majority."

Barbara Wyness, a public relations and research officer for the UNW, said the union had no comment to make regarding the decision when contacted by Yellowknifer. She also would not comment on whether the union will pursue a motion for costs.

Parties involved in the dispute can present submissions concerning costs within 14 days of the decision. Carriere's legal representative has sent a bill of costs of just under $10,000 to the UNW's lawyer. She said the three tenants will meet in the coming weeks to discuss if they will present submissions to outside costs, such as time away from work.

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