According to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website, “Ontario’s 124 MPPs are elected to represent [emphasis by me] the concerns of their constituents regarding provincial responsibilities at the Legislature and in their ridings … When not at the Legislature, MPPs have a number of responsibilities in their home ridings such as meeting with constituents to listen to their concerns, helping to resolve matters related to provincial government services …”
https://www.ola.org/en/photo/members-provincial-parliament-mpps
An MPP’s first responsibility is clear and unequivocal. In my opinion then, when an MPP refuses to meet with a constituent with a genuine issue that meets the “provincial government services” criterion, it’s a breach of fiduciary duty–a minimum, legal threshold of accountability to which all members of parliament must adhere.
Denial of this fundamental democratic right abuses the power imbalance, and discretionary power, that an MPP has over their vulnerable constituents.
In mid-March 2024, Ms. Joanne Kuipers, president of the Durham Landlords Association (DLA), requested a meeting with Todd McCarthy, MPP for the riding of Durham. She was not only representing herself and about 34,500 petition signers, she was also specifically representing 1,390 Durham constituents:
· Oshawa – 337
· Pickering – 235
· Ajax – 396
· Whitby – 303
· Bowmanville – 62
· Uxbridge – 17
· Other – about 40
MPP McCarthy stated that he was already aware of the petition and refused to meet with Ms. Kuipers. He insisted that she must first speak with his unelected executive assistant, Doug Ellis. Ms. Kuipers reluctantly accepted the ultimatum and scheduled a meeting with Mr. Ellis for April 03, 2024 at 1:00 pm in Bowmanville.
On March 26/24, Ms. Kuipers sent out an email asking Durham housing providers to join her in her meeting with Mr. Ellis.
On March 27/24 around 11:00 am, Ms. Kuipers received a phone call from MPP McCarthy’s office stating that they are cancelling the meeting because Doug Ellis is no longer available. The caller refused to set a new meeting date and insisted that Ms. Kuipers must wait for Mr. Ellis to call her back.
Specifically, the caller said McCarthy and Ellis do not want to sit down with Ms. Kuipers because they cannot get involved in any tribunal issues in Ontario. There’s nothing that they can do (Ms. Kuipers took notes during the conversation and will attest to this).
MPP McCarthy's response was unacceptable and fundamentally wrong on several levels. The Ontario tribunals, including the Landlord and Tenant Board, are overseen by the Ministry of the Attorney General, the chief legal adviser to the Government of Ontario. This makes it precisely the responsibility of MPP McCarthy and every MPP to address and become involved, especially when nearly 35,000 petition signers have exercised their democratic right to call upon their duly-elected MPPs to get involved.
MMP Todd McCarthy’s office number is 905-697-1501. If you are a constituent of MPP McCarthy please make the effort to call his office and correct him.
You can determine your MPP and riding here:
https://www.elections.on.ca/en/voting-in-ontario/electoral-districts.html
Many MPPs appear to have forgotten what their first responsibility is, who put them in office, who pays their salaries and ultimately, who they are answerable to.
For example, as previously mentioned, three MPPs unsubscribed from the petition mailing list, clearly indicating no interest in your, and especially their constituents', grievance:
• MPP Mike Harris – Kitchener-Conestoga – PC Party
• MPP Chris Glover – Spadina—Fort York – NDP Party
• MPP Stephen Crawford – Oakville – PC Party
MPP Stephen Crawford not only unsubscribed immediately after receiving the petition but then added me to his newsletter mailing list. I never agreed to join his newsletter, which is a breach of Canadian Anti-Spamming Legislation (CASL). CASL forbids anyone from adding another person’s email address to a mailing list simply because they received an email from that other party, especially an unsolicited email.
I have also received reports that Catherine Fife, MPP Waterloo (NDP Party) has avoided multiple requests for a meeting.
CALL TO ACTION
If you have been trying but so far have been unsuccessful in scheduling a meeting about the petition with your MPP, please let me know – Chris Seepe – cseepe@aztechrealty.com
If you haven’t tried yet, why not? This is your perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to correct some of the grave injustice perpetrated at the LTB.
The can be no peace without justice.
Chris.