About 2 dozen people displaced after rental property condemned

Homer Blacquiere says he is hardly surprised part of the former motel in Alberton where he has been living for the last six years was deemed unsafe by provincial inspectors.

"Ever since the new owner took over, everything went downhill. We keep running out of oil. Everything freezes, all the pipes and everything. Now everything's condemned down at the other end," he said.

A spokesperson for P.E.I.'s housing department said the issue is the stairs leading up to the second floor and the railing along the top level, which inspectors have determined are structurally unsafe.

The province confirmed this is the first time ever officials issued a dangerous premises order telling tenants in the second storey of the building they have to leave for their own safety

Tenants' concerns have been ignored, Blacquiere said.

"Nobody seems to want to come around here and work on it. So things don't get done, right, and eventually things get worse and fall apart. And that's what happened down in the other end there," he said.

There are 13 apartment units in the condemned section, according to the province. Many of those units were occupied by people in Canada on work permits. The Red Cross has put everyone affected into hotels for the next few days.

Blair Duggan, Alberton's acting mayor is concerned about what happens to displaced tenants after their time at the hotel is up, he said.

"It's very concerning. Number one, you don't like to see anyone living in unsafe conditions. I'm glad the government stepped in and caught up with it, and had a resolution for it, but it's concerning that we don't have an area for those residents to go to right now," he said, adding rental housing is in short supply in the area.

That shortage and the cost of housing are what keeps Blacquiere living here paying $600 a month, he said.

"There's nothing else to rent. Everything's too high, or too far away," Blacquiere said.

According to the province's dangerous premises order, no one can move back to the units until the stairs and railing are demolished and replaced.

In an emailed statement to CBC, the company said it was shocked by actions by the province — and that the owners weren't given sufficient notice to fix the stairs and railing before tenants had to leave.

"If my team or I were given sufficient notice to remediate this, we and many of our tenants feel like this could be handled differently. Evacuated tenants informed us that they would like to return immediately given that this is their home," said the email from property manager George Villaluz DesRoche, on behalf of the company which owns the building 102675 P.E.I. Inc.

"Over the past two years, I have personally  overseen upgrading anything from the washing machines to roof to heating in the motel. We had  planned upgrades to doors, windows, and plumbing, last summer, but were unable to execute our  plans due to the shortage of tradespeople in the local community."

The company is now working to do all necessary repairs as fast as possible, Villaluz DesRoche said in the email.