Demolition permit issued for derelict Brampton building at centre of standoff with city councillor

The months-long standoff between Brampton city staff and a city councillor over a derelict building that has racked up dozens of penalties could be coming to an end soon.

CTV News Toronto has learned that the boarded-up home on Queen Street near Brampton’s downtown core now has a demolition permit.

The latest development comes after CTV News Toronto reported that the property had been visited repeatedly by a property standards officer who raised issues of safety, squatters and rats with Wards 9 and 10 Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor.

According to records obtained by CTV News through a freedom of information request, the officer corresponded with Toor in January about the state of the property.

“Gurpartap, what is it going to take to bring your property into compliance? Do you not have respect for the city and its bylaws?” they wrote.

“How about you stop harassing me at work? Let’s start there,” Toor replied.

The property is owned by a numbered company and Toor is one of two directors. The property faced some $12,500 in fines relating to 29 tickets over eight months as of May, records show.

That was before the frustrated officer filed a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner and was taken off the case.

At the time, Toor said in an e-mail to CTV News that the fines had been paid. However, a subsequent freedom of information request showed that a new property standards officer had written four more tickets in June.

A home connected to Brampton councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor on Queen Street. (Jon Woodward/CTV News Toronto)There were two tickets for failure to secure a vacant, unoccupied or damaged building, and one ticket each of failure to remove refuse, graffiti or stagnant water from private property, failure to cut grass and weeds in excess of 20 centimetres in height.

It’s not clear how much the fines are worth. The City of Brampton redacted those details in the second FOI response.

CTV News caught up with Toor at a Brampton City Council meeting last Wednesday, requesting to talk to him about the fines and the property.

“Can we talk after the meeting is over?” Toor asked.

But after the meeting, he didn’t show up – and then didn’t respond to emails and text messages for more than a week.

He has previously denied he used his council position to put himself out of the reach of property standards. It’s not clear whether the new fines have been paid.

The documents show that Toor has received a demolition permit. An engineer’s report says the structure is not stable. Property records show the building was bought for $1.06 million in 2017.

It’s unclear when the property will be demolished. A sign outside the property says it could be part of a new 11-storey development along with adjoining properties.

A home connected to Brampton councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor on Queen Street. (Jon Woodward/CTV News Toronto)Neighbour Steve Olivera said he’s sick of the constant issues.

“It’s been an eyesore for several years now,” Olivera said. “The days that we see the machines knocking this down we’ll be happy people.”