Cancer Survivor/Patient Locked Out From Own Home

(Waterdown, ON) - Vivienne Gault says she was outside in a bathrobe and slippers when the door to her home was locked against her. She needed her suction machine, she wrote.

She had walked towards the road to look for her dog, which had run out through the open door. In written answers to The Northern Current, she described what happened next.

“As I walked towards the road to try and see where my dog went TJ ran past me, into the house and locked me out of my home (on video).”

“It was November and I was wearing my bathrobe and slippers.”

Gault had undergone surgery to remove her voice box, she wrote, and now breathes through her neck. She explained why access to the machine mattered.

“I need it to suction the mucus from my throat otherwise it gets clogged and I can't breathe,” she wrote.

The short door sequence published by TNC gives readers a view of part of an encounter she says changed how she felt in her own home.

The door sequence

The video follows a man moving towards the house, then shows the camera approach the entrance and face a closed door from outside. Gault identifies the man who entered as TJ McLaughlin.

In her account, the encounter followed disagreements about access to the house. She says TJ had twice given her 24 hours' notice of a visit while her partner, Kevin Kennedy, was away working in Markdale. She refused entry, she wrote, because she was alone during the week and TJ had previously accused her of assault.

“TJ could have come on the weekend when Kevin was home but he didn't.”

She says TJ and RJ arrived with a large drill and that she was told the locks would be changed. She describes the drill being revved and says she found the visits frightening. Her account also alleges that TJ moved a metal fence to enter the backyard and paced around it, recording his steps. Her belief that he was measuring the land for a possible severance is an inference she makes, not something established by the door footage.

When her dog ran out, she says, TJ accused her of setting it on him. She denies doing so. It was as she went to look for the dog that she says he entered the house and locked her outside.

Gault says a neighbour called police. Her interview places the encounter in November but does not give a day or year.

TNC sent questions to TJ and RJ McLaughlin on October 26 about the door incident, their roles at the property, the proposed eviction and the tenants' allegations. They were also informed of the planned October 28 publication. No reply was located in the TNC mailboxes checked on the morning of October 28.

More than a decade on the street

For Gault, the dispute concerns a home she and Kennedy have spent years repairing and a neighbourhood where they have built friendships.

“We love this house and have developed several friendships on this street,” she wrote. “One of my best friends lives 3 doors down and we regularly have BBQ's with several of our neighbours.”

In a correction sent shortly after her interview answers, she said they had moved in on June 1, 2016. That puts their time in the house at more than ten years.

She describes Kennedy as the person neighbours turn to when something needs fixing.

“Kevin is the street handyman, loans his tools to the neighbours and helps them with their home repairs.”

Their attachment to the street also appears in a Christmas Eve tradition. Gault says they buy 99 eight-inch candy canes, go out at midnight and decorate the cemetery fence so neighbours find it on Christmas morning.

Inside the house, she points to work they have done themselves. One feature wall in the dining room, she says, is made from 145-year-old barnboard Kennedy bought from Mennonites. She says they have invested more than $25,000 in improvements. It is an investment she points to when explaining why she wants to stay.

“The property manager gave us carte blanche to fix and decorate because the house was in such disrepair, this is also why the rent was initially reduced as he couldn't rent it in such poor condition.”

In her description of the early years, the opportunity to repair and decorate helped them turn a house needing work into their home.

A bathroom adapted to her needs

Some of the improvements have become important to Gault's daily care.

She says Kennedy rebuilt the bathroom, which she describes as having mould, tiled the walls and bath area, and installed a soaker tub. She links the change directly to her surgery.

“I can no longer shower due to my laryngectomy in 2023 which removed my voice box so I now breathe through my neck,” she wrote.

An ordinary shower no longer met her needs, she explains. Losing the house would also mean leaving a bathroom Kennedy had rebuilt around that limitation.

She says TJ and RJ took over managing the property after the bathroom work. The tenant applications supplied to TNC name Thomas McLaughlin as landlord and describe TJ and RJ as his agents. Current ownership is among the questions TNC put to the McLaughlins.

Gault also describes a long relationship with the previous property manager. She says he has supplied a letter supporting the tenants and their care of the house.

“My property manager of 8 years has provided me with a letter stating we are the best tenants he's ever had,” she wrote. “We have never been late on rent or our bills.”

She describes the earlier relationship as a far different experience from the confrontations that followed.

The demand to leave

Gault says the prospect of eviction reached them while they were away on a two-week summer holiday.

TJ first said he wanted to come by to talk, she wrote. Kennedy replied that they were away and could meet when they returned. According to Gault, TJ then said they were being evicted and had to be out by October 1.

“Completely ruined our vacation,” she wrote.

When they met after returning, she says, they disputed the demand to leave. She describes an increasingly hostile conversation.

“He raised his voice and started threatening Kevin's trade licences and reputation.”

“I told TJ he had to leave but he continued with his threats so I opened the door and told him to go. He then accused me of physically assaulting him.”

The tenants' T2 application also describes a disputed confrontation and denies the assault allegation. The interview dates the summer exchange to 2025.

Gault says the reason initially given for wanting the house back was that Thomas McLaughlin would move in. She questioned whether the house and large yard suited his needs. She says TJ told them help would be hired.

Her latest account says the proposed occupant has since changed to TJ. She doubts that either proposal reflects a genuine intention to make the house a primary residence. That is a disputed allegation about intent.

What the applications record

Three completed Landlord and Tenant Board application forms supplied to TNC give a more detailed picture of the disputes over rent, conduct and maintenance. They bear signature dates in September 2025.

These copies record the tenants' allegations and the remedies they sought.

The T1, a tenant application for a rebate of money, challenges rent increases. It says the agreed rent had been $1,595 a month and describes later lease documents showing $1,695 in 2022 and $1,725 in 2024. It alleges that the required rent-increase notices were not served and that Kennedy did not sign those later documents.

The application asks for a $1,560 rebate.

The T2, an application about tenant rights, alleges interference with the tenants' enjoyment of the home and harassment, threats and pressure to leave. Its completed text requests up to $5,175 in rent abatement, an end to the alleged conduct and a Board fine. The narrative also requests reimbursement for the disrupted vacation.

The T6, a maintenance application, describes bedroom flooding during rain and thaw, along with a dead or dying tree over the parking area. The tenants allege that falling branches damaged Gault's vehicle and that repeated requests to address the problems went unanswered.

The landlords have since addressed the tree issue to comply with City of Hamilton bylaws.

The maintenance application seeks $4,830 in rent abatement and $6,659.71 for vehicle damage, the latter based on a repair estimate described in the form but not attached. It also asks for work to address the tree and flooding, including an arborist or municipal assessment and an assessment of the foundation.

Fear that continued after the door closed

The immediate encounter ended, but Gault says the fear continued for months.

“I was scared every day for months.”

She says Kennedy hired a contractor the following day to reinforce the backyard fence. Neighbours, she says, promised to watch the property and call police if they saw something happening.

“Every time I heard a noise outside, every time the dog barked and even when I wasn't home I was terrified they would come back.”

A noise outside or the dog barking could bring back the worry that another visit was about to happen, she says. The anxiety followed her even when she was away from the property.

The same neighbours she associates with barbecues and Christmas traditions had become part of the informal support she relied on when she felt unsafe.

Treatment and the cost of moving

In her October 26 answers, Gault said she had recently received a lung-cancer diagnosis, which she described as her fifth cancer, and expected surgery in November. She gave TNC express permission to include her health information.

She says she can no longer work after the removal of her voice box in December 2023 and that Kennedy has increased his working hours to cover the lost income.

“I am unable to work as I can't speak since they removed my voice box in Dec 2023 so Kevin has had to work 7 days a week to cover my loss of income.”

She says she was approved for the Ontario Disability Support Program after waiting a year. She is receiving care from two hospitals, she wrote. The prospect of finding another home comes while she is managing that treatment and a reduced household income.

“It's been very hard financially and to be honest an eviction would mean renting a similar size property for double the money, which we cannot afford.”

She is worried about finding another house they can afford while preserving the arrangements that make daily life manageable: a bathroom she can use and neighbours close enough to help.

A home and a disputed future

Gault says a hearing is scheduled for November 9 and that her lease runs until March 2027. In her account, the housing hearing and her expected surgery now fall in the same month.

She questions the stated intention to occupy the property and believes a future severance or sale may be the real objective. Her interview refers to information she says came from the former manager about earlier attempts to divide the land. TNC has not established a current redevelopment plan from that account.

TNC's questions to TJ and RJ asked who owns and manages the property, who intends to move in, how the tenancy documents should be understood, what repairs have been completed and whether sale, re-rental or redevelopment has been discussed. They were invited to provide supporting documents and correct inaccuracies.

For Gault, the meaning of the house is already clear. It is where Kennedy rebuilt a bathroom around her needs, where neighbours lend support, and where more than a decade of their work and routines has accumulated.

Her final line to TNC puts the dispute in her own terms.

“It's home to us, it's dollar signs to TJ and RJ.”