BETRAYED IN THE BURNING COLD: How Olivia Chow’s Toronto Abandoned Thorncliffe Park Residents to a Predictable Inferno… And still No Answer Who’s Responsible and Why ILLEGAL COMBUSTIBLE materials are allowed on Highrise Buildings?

Kamal Gogna, Chief Building Official & Executive Director, City of Toronto refused to answer why there remain no responsible names, no investigation why ILLEGAL COMBUSTIBLE materials are allowed on Highrise Buildings, no nothing except some scripted trivial matters…

BETRAYED IN THE BURNING COLD: How Olivia Chow’s Toronto Abandoned Thorncliffe Park Residents to a Predictable Inferno

By Eddie Hardie 🍁 Integrity Canada

The smoke hasn’t cleared. For over a month, since November 27, a fire has been smoldering in the heart of Thorncliffe Park, trapping hundreds of residents in a nightmare of uncertainty. They are refugees in their own city, barred from their homes with no timeline for return. But the real blaze here isn’t just between two buildings—it’s the fire of corruption, criminal negligence, and a breathtaking betrayal of public trust burning down the very pillars of safety in Canada’s largest city.

The cause, revealed by Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop, is so blatantly illegal it shocks the conscience: “combustible particle board” is burning in the gap between high-rise buildings. Let that sink in. In a major global city, in the year 2024, a residential building was clad in ILLEGAL, KINDLING-LIKE MATERIAL.

This isn’t an oversight. This is a crime.

As former Fire Chief Matthew Pegg has publicly affirmed, “The actual design and construction of high rise residential buildings are built out of materials that don’t burn.” Period. The Building Code and Fire Code are unequivocal: exteriors must be non-combustible, and buildings must have proper “Spatial Separation” to prevent fire spread and allow firefighter access.

Here, both laws were torched. The material is illegal. The gap is so tiny (a shocking 1-2 inches) that firefighters cannot even enter to extinguish the blaze or remove the criminal hazard. This isn’t a tragedy; it’s a pre-meditated disaster waiting to happen. And the people responsible are sitting comfortably in City Hall, hoping you’ll look away.

Where is the Investigation? Where is the Accountability?

Zilch, zero, nada

The silence from the City of Toronto is deafening, scandalous, and complicit. There has been no announcement of a criminal investigation, no raid on the builder’s offices, no charges—just a smoldering building and displaced families.

Why? The public suspects what the City refuses to utter: corruption. The deliberate use of illegal, flammable materials doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when someone cuts corners for profit and someone else looks the other way for a bribe or a favor.

We know where the buck must stop. The man directly responsible for enforcing the Building Code is Kamal Gogna, Chief Building Official & Executive Director for the City of Toronto. The political leader accountable is Mayor Olivia Chow. They have been informed. They know the law is being broken. Their response? A strategy of silence, ignorance, and inaction.

• Contact Kamal Gogna: (416) 392-7523 | [email protected]

• Contact Mayor Olivia Chow: 416-397-CITY (2489) | [email protected]

Ask them: “Do you condone the illegal construction that is currently burning in Thorncliffe Park? Why is there no criminal investigation?”

This is Not an Isolated Incident: Toronto is a Tinderbox of Corruption

Thorncliffe is not a one-off. It is a symptom of a pandemic of corruption that has infested Toronto’s building and inspection regime.

Take the property at 15 Rutherglen Road. Despite clear laws that no wooden fence may be attached to a building (creating a direct fire hazard), photographic evidence shows exactly that. City permits were issued. Complaints were ignored. This is a living proof of deliberate, knowing law-breaking. (See the shocking images of attached wooden fences – a blatant fire hazard – that the city ignores: Image 1, Image 2)

As documented in the article “Why London Inferno Will Happen in Toronto,” the recipe for a Grenfell Tower-style catastrophe—cladding + corruption + complacency—is already baked into our skyline. The City’s inaction screams a terrifying truth: They are knowingly and wilfully allowing death traps to be built.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil… Get Re-Elected?

A staggering four in five Canadians believe political corruption is common. We’ve accepted that Canada’s national pastime is no longer hockey, but “watching corrupt politicians get away with it.” Toronto’s handling of Thorncliffe Park is a masterclass in this sickening sport.

The law exists for one supreme reason: to protect the individual. Building codes exist to save lives. When officials charged with upholding these laws instead subvert them for gain, they are not just incompetent—they are accessories to a crime that risks murder by negligence.

The Absurd, the Scary, and the Call to Action

It’s absurd that families are homeless because of illegal particle board.
It’s scandalous that no one is in handcuffs.
It’s terrifying that the people we pay to protect us are the ones putting us in danger.

Love Canada? Then do something.

1. RAISE HELL. Call and email Gogna and Chow daily. Demand a criminal investigation.

2. SPREAD THE WORD. Share this story. Toronto needs to know its leaders are failing it.

3. SIGN THE PETITION. Demand accountability, starting with Mayor Chow’s resignation for criminal negligence and public betrayal. Petition for Mayor Chow’s Resignation

4. JOIN THE MOVEMENT. Explore initiatives like 🍁 Integrity Canada. We must rebuild our city on a foundation of law, not bribes.

The Thorncliffe fire may eventually be put out. But the fire of public outrage must not be extinguished until every corrupt official is removed, every criminal builder is prosecuted, and every Torontonian can sleep soundly knowing their safety hasn’t been sold to the highest bidder.

Our city is literally burning from corruption. It’s time to fight fire with fury.