Another Fire With People With No Fire Insurance in Cornwall by Jamie Gilcig DEC 12, 2016

Cornwall Ontario – Another fire in Cornwall has left people homeless.  Another round of social media and gofundme appeals for help for the poor victims.

But in 2016 apartment insurance in Ontario can be had for little more than the price of a package of cigarettes or less than the price of a case of beer (ok, maybe not Quebec beer).   It’s not only for themselves of course, but for liability because many of these fires start from lit cigarettes and other cases of negligence.

A fire is a tragedy and of course impacts many people, especially in sections of town like our East End in Cornwall with older, and in many cases, substandard housing with a higher density of population.  That means when goober or gooberette falls asleep while cooking or smoking their neighbors usually end up paying the price.

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There simply is no excuse to not have a bare minimum of insurance.  In fact many landlords demand it, and if you have  a mortgage on a home you of course have to have insurance as well.  Would you want to live in a building with people that had no fire insurance or liability insurance?   We don’t let people drive cars without insurance, why not rent apartments?

Maybe instead of rounding up old furniture and blankets for those who simply for whatever reason refuse to get it, these well meaning souls put a gofundme account together for those that don’t have insurance?

Surely it would be better.   You could even start a no interest loan service for those that need that little extra help, which would recycle and help people help themselves.

There are solutions, but bailing out penny wise, pound foolish people really isn’t one of them with no real movement forward isn’t the solution.

What do you think dear CFN viewers?  You can post your comments below.

12 Comments

  1. so instead of helping u slam the door on them? boy u like to kick them when
    there down ah

  2. ok what about people who are barely able to feed themselves how can they get insurance tell me this instead of putting people down for helping people be glad they are and the landlords do have insurance to tear down n rebuild if it is that bad off.

    I have family that can barely feed themselves that they cant afford it

  3. Author

    Hi, please note that you have to post a first and last name on CFN to comment, but you raise a good point. The simple fact is that it comes down to choice. And that $15 or $20 per month may seem like a lot, but when you lose everything you have it’s a lot more.

    Again, it’s one pack of cigarettes or one case of beer less per month. It’s something everyone should be required to have. It should be a priority.

  4. Agreed.
    If you can afford those packs of smokes, or that case of beer. You should be able to get insurance. There’s no excuse
    And for those who say it’s that or food on the table, that’s bull.
    Prioritize people, make it happen.
    Then these unfortunate situations are less scary.

  5. Barely able to feed themselves? Give me A break. Even at $12 an hour a person can afford an apartment in that area of town and have lots left over for food.

  6. Dickens stated it best, when the Christmas Spirit explained to Scrooge, the waifs crouching at the Spirit’s feet, “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, …but most of all beware this boy.”
    Poverty and Ignorance are the mainstay of Cornwall’s continuous decline, aided and abetted by the self consumed City Hall politicians, absentee landlords, and friends profiting from them.

  7. N.B.
    The problem of Cornwall’s “absentee landlords” is meant both literally and euphemistically, and refers to… Property owners that have little interest in properties or tenents beyond rent — often not even living in Cornwall — and also City Hall politicians and managers virtually or actually living out of town, as are their “friends in crime”.

  8. I think this article is completely disrespectful. Before you write stories about people what they should purchase maybe you should hear their story first. A lot of people in cornwall sre on social assustance and have a hard time paying for bills. So before you start criticizing smokers worry about yourself.

  9. People on social assistance have a hard time paying bills, so don’t criticize smokers? Yes indeed, “Beware this boy”.

    Would it be too much to consider first things first like food, water, warmth and shelter, and next maybe safety and security… Was Kevin out grabbing a smoke the day the rest of the class heard about the “Hierarchy of Needs” — Although one shouldn’t need school to know that.

  10. That being said…

    There are people doing without because of this fire, and the sins of the parent needn’t be visited on the children.

    The community should be generous, gracious and help these people get their homes and lives back together.

  11. People who are on social assistance should not be smoking or buying beer or anything of that sort but feed the family, pay insurance, rent, etc. I kissed my rent cheque goodbye today and the rent went up for March – quite a huge chunk. I sure wouldn’t want to be a landlord at all and that is the truth – it is a real hell.

  12. We have insurance for our apartment and fully covered for $1 million dollars. We have our car insured as well – full coverage. We don’t only insure our belongings but we cover things in case that we did something wrong. We are fully covered and our landlord demands it – there is no welfare in our building.

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