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Cole Webber

@colewebber.bsky.social
226 followers 234 following 121 posts

legal clinic worker in Parkdale, Toronto. New book: btlbooks.com/book/renoviction-and-r…

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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 23h
Review of a raging new release from my buddy's band Last Agony www.noecho.net/features/las...
noecho.net
Last Agony: Toronto Hardcore Crust Band Unleashes Chainsaw Guitars on “Death Wave” | Features
Their guitar tones are pure filth.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thanks to The Leveller for covering the book event we did in Ottawa earlier this month
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The Leveller @theleveller.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
City Hall and the #Ontario LTB are not tools that work for tenants, because they work for landlords, argues Toronto authors in new book on renovictions and tenant union organizing. Read analysis and the #Ottawa discussion here: leveller.ca/2026/09/new-... #ottpoli #onpoli
leveller.ca
New Book States Tenant Organizing “The Only Solution” to Renovictions, AGIs - The Leveller
By Ashley Liza Fernando On September 14, 2026, Cole Webber and Phillip Zigman discussed their latest work, Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City, at the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
From today's Toronto Star
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Gabe Oatley @gabeoatley.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A six-month rent strike has ended in victory for a group of Toronto tenants. The landlord has agreed to drop a sought-after 5.4 percent rent increase. The change came about a week after after tenants went to Montreal, aiming to pressure their landlord in person. www.torontotoday.ca/local/real-e...
torontotoday.ca
‘Significant victory’: 6-month Parkdale rent strike ends in victory for tenants
In 2025, the landlord of 75 Spencer Ave. proposed an above guideline rent increase of 5.4 per cent
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Manuela Vega @manuelavega.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A group of Parkdale tenants have ended their six-month rent strike after they say property management company MetCap Living agreed to withdraw a request to hike rents at their rent-controlled apartments 5.4% above the guideline amount. Latest @thestar.com www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
thestar.com
Parkdale tenants end six-month rent strike after landlord withdraws AGI request
Landlord MetCap had asked Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board to raise rates in the rent-controlled Toronto building 5.4 per cent above the provincial guideline.
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TorontoToday @torontotoday.ca · 25/09/2026
dlvr.it
‘Significant victory’: 6-month Parkdale rent strike ends in victory for tenants
In 2025, the landlord of 75 Spencer Ave. proposed an above guideline rent increase of 5.4 per cent
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
75 SPENCER RENT STRIKE VICTORY: RENT INCREASE CANCELLED Our neighbours at 75 Spencer are celebrating a rent strike victory. Metcap has conceded to tenants’ demand and withdrawn the above guideline rent increase (AGI) parkdaleorganize.ca/2026/09/25/7...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"Despite the ongoing rent strike, the building changed hands on May 4, selling for $15.5 million to a numbered company. The director of this company was listed as Rebecca Elkeslassy, a woman based in Côte-Saint-Luc." www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Thanks to Briarpatch for publishing an excerpt from Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City in their housing issue
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Briarpatch Magazine @briarpatchmag.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In an abridged excerpt from their book Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City, Cole Webber and Philip Zigman argue that this strategy allows landlords to increase rent values and thus the overall value of their properties. www.briarpatchmagazi...
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Briarpatch Magazine @briarpatchmag.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Landlords use renovations to “permanently displace tenants from rental units based on the claim that they will renovate the empty units,” effectively using a process called renoviction.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Josh Hawley reviews Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City criticalottstudies.wordpress.com/2026/09/09/r...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
An enjoyable part of supporting tenant organizing is documenting struggles in the form of print newsletters featuring interviews and discussions between organizers that are then distributed under doors in the building and nearby buildings to inform people and build support for the organizing
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The Leveller @theleveller.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
September 14: @colewebber.bsky.social & Philip Zigman discuss their new book "Renoviction & Resistance in the Capitalist City" in Ottawa @btlbooks.com along with Leveller & local author Andrew Crosby of "Resisting Eviction: Domicide & the Financialization of Rental Housing" No registration required!
Posted for "A book discussion with authors Cole Webber and Philip Zigman - Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City (Between the Lines 2026)" on Monday September 14th at 7pm at JK Wyllie Conference Room, PSAC Head Office, 233 Gilmour St. Sponsored by The Leveller.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Outstanding bookshelf placement at the Toronto Public Library
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gayham @grahamericlatham.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Mixtape/newsletter for August: a clutch of reggaeton- and cumbia-adjacent tunes, and a bit of writing about how things like “rights” are always an unstable formation, always the outcome of ongoing social struggle (so we’ve gotta keep fighting!). anything-everything.ghost.io/actually-exi...
anything-everything.ghost.io
actually existing
“Perhaps it never was our welfare state?” - The London Edinburgh Weekend Return Group, In and Against the State (1979) Gavin Matts, a stand-up comedian originally from Vancouver, has a bit about bein...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This article makes some good, critical points about housing non-profits, but despite acknowledging that 'Keynesianism is long dead', the author concludes by calling for a return to Keynesian housing policy
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History Keeps Happening @historykeeper.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
@anniemcc.bsky.social as always making the important points. Hope to read the book one day.
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History Keeps Happening @historykeeper.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Check out this book whichever way you can, wherever you're at. Ask your library to stock it if they haven't already.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Looking forward to this book discussion in Ottawa. We'll be joined by Andrew Crosby, author of Resisting Eviction: Domicide and the Financialization of Rental Housing (Fernwood, 2023).
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
By disqualifying migrant workers from receiving social assistance payments, the economic compulsion governing workers to work even longer hours under even worse conditions is intensified
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Eviction as landlord business model: "Lankin focuses on properties that are subject to rent controls but have a 30 to 50 per cent gap to market rents. With its buildings having an annual 15 to 20 per cent turnover, it can profitably capture that gap." www.renx.ca/lankins-apar...
renx.ca
Lankin’s apartment portfolio grows with Guelph acquisition
Lankin Investments’ Lankin Real Estate Growth LP has acquired an 80-unit purpose-built rental apartment at 33 Dawson Rd. in Guelph, Ont. for an undisclosed price.
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Heatwave Magazine @htwvmag.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Surveying the many forms of organization and struggle that persist between and connect moments of open revolt, Neel identifies the imperative to build communist power as made up of three interwoven processes: theoretical, practical, and spiritual.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Remarkable that a report entitled 'Homelessness is a Housing Problem' does not contain the word 'eviction' caeh.ca/news/homeles...
caeh.ca
Homelessness Is a Housing Problem In Canada
New Canadian research ties increasing homelessness to high rent and low vacancy in lowest-cost rental housing AUGUST 6, 2026 — Homelessness in Canada is a housing problem, and it’s getting worse, acco...
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Cominsitu @cominsitu.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
These cowards are so scared of Blackrock investors leaving Berlin that they will BAN any possible federal implementation of a constitutional article for socialization of housing, even when passed by popular referendum. Welcome to the capitalist state. www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/wir-...
tagesspiegel.de
„Wir wollen bauen, nicht enteignen“: Bund untersagt Ländern Verstaatlichungen von Wohnraum
Union und SPD haben sich in der Nacht auf ein Reformpaket verständigt. Die Passage zur Wohnungsbaupolitik enthält einen für Berlin wichtigen Passus.
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History Keeps Happening @historykeeper.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
When Canada formed in 1867, it did not yet include Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, or the territories (or Newfoundland or PEI). In order to expand westward, it had to do so by force. Many of my ancestors weren't born in "Canada", they were born in territory that Canada later invaded.
indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca
Red River Resistance
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Detailed report on the Bank Street demoviction in Ottawa ottawacitizen.com/feature/boar...
ottawacitizen.com
'I feel betrayed': What's behind the boarded-up stretch of Bank Street?
The tenants are evicted. The project collapsed. And creditors were pursuing the development group over tens of millions of dollars in loans and other alleged debts.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
We're doing another book event at the Toronto Reference Library on July 7 at 7pm
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Between the Lines @btlbooks.com · 22/06/2026
Upcoming author talk at the Toronto Public Library on Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman! 📆 July 7, 7 pm 📍Toronto Reference Library 🚪Beeton Hall, 1st Floor Learn more: tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events/6a...
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History Keeps Happening @historykeeper.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Hockey Night in Canada TV ends after more than seven decades. Elbows up tho?
cbc.ca
NHL fans will now have to pay to watch games on Sportsnet. What that means for Rogers — and CBC | CBC News
The National Hockey League season came to a close this month and with it came the end of an era as longtime partners Rogers and CBC were unable to come to a new agreement for NHL broadcasts. So Canadi...
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Brittany C @brittanycormier.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
👀🤓 Gogogo get @colewebber.bsky.social and Philip’s book
Front-facing photo of a book titled Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman
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Between the Lines @btlbooks.com · 16/06/2026
Out now! Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman. Learn more: btlbooks.com/book/renovic...
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TorontoToday @torontotoday.ca · 15/06/2026
dlvr.it
How to fight renoviction: A sneak peek of new book by Toronto housing advocates
‘Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City’ by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman is a case study on how to fight against wrongful eviction
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Budget Motel Abyss @budgetmotelabyss.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Don’t forget to add to your summer reading list brill.com/display/titl...
brill.com
Social Constitution and Fetishistic Social Domination in Marx, Lukács, Adorno, and Lefebvre
"Social Constitution and Fetishistic Social Domination in Marx, Lukács, Adorno, and Lefebvre" published on 29 Apr 2026 by Brill.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
New child poverty report finds the ward Parkdale-High Park to have the lowest child poverty rate in Toronto, and Jameson and West Lodge—where Parkdale tenants are concentrated—to have child poverty rates comparable to wards with the highest rates in the city
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I wish
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 29/05/2026
Several of Toronto's outreach workers worry about a crackdown on homeless people that may already be happening ahead of the 2026 World Cup. People report being ticketed for loitering, searched and told to leave for hanging around, and allege violence from private security guards.
thestar.com
Are homeless people at Union Station victims of a World Cup crackdown? Here’s what’s going on
The city says its pilot project is trying to better co-ordinate outreach at the hub. But advocates say they’re hearing about violence and harassment.
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Hannes Rolf @hannesrolf.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Just remembered this gem youtu.be/qoyq88niVEU?...
youtu.be
The Wire: Tautology Supercut
YouTube video by Propolandante
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History Keeps Happening @historykeeper.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The reason a lot of academics reject settler colonialism as an analytical framework and try to contort it into being about simple migration is because they don't want to fully deal with the State as a problem.
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RC21-ISA @rc21.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Timely book out: "Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City" by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman. btlbooks.com/book/renovic... #urban #sociology
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naomi @skuaenjoyer.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
although Canada focused, I highly recommend this book to Americans too as a case study on general tenant organizing, + critique of co-optation of that struggle by city councils and the non-profit industrial complex. Really good current information, genuinely found it inspiring and informative.
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Now in store @anotherstoryto.bsky.social
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Gabe Oatley @gabeoatley.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
NEW: About 600 workers across three Toronto community agencies are now on strike. It's part of a coordinated action with about two dozen peer agencies. OPSEU President JP Hornick called the action a "historic moment" for the labour movement. #labour #onpoli www.torontotoday.ca/local/policy...
torontotoday.ca
Hundreds of social service workers begin strike in Toronto
A spokesperson for one agency said the strike will have a ‘significant impact’ on the organization's capacity to provide core services to clients
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Buyouts are an extra-legal tactic landlords use as part of the renoviction strategy. When lawyers encourage tenants to take buyouts, they facilitate displacement
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Jeffery R Webber @jefferyrwebber.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Important new article from Sean K. Isaacs. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
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Gabe Oatley @gabeoatley.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
NEW: An ongoing rent strike at an apartment building in Parkdale has taken an unexpected turn: in May, the longtime owners sold the property to a new owner for $15.5 million. It's raising fears among some tenants about what the future will hold. #topoli www.torontotoday.ca/local/real-e...
torontotoday.ca
Amid rent strike, Parkdale apartment building sold for $15.5M
The building at 75 Spencer Ave. was sold on May 4 — the third month of an ongoing tenant rent strike
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Ben Teresa @benfteresa.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
During COVID, I heard landlords were turning down rent relief or otherwise being recalcitrant participants. The standard explanations (admin burden, slow bureaucracy) weren't convincing on this puzzle. New paper out today in @economyandspace.bsky.social on why: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Cole Webber @colewebber.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Join us for our book launch event featuring Brampton's finest, our pal and legal clinic lawyer, Kevin Laforest
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