Finally, late in the afternoon of Monday, March 21, 2022, an anonymous member of Andrea Khanjin’s staff sent to us a reply to our request for information regarding the transparent crime of fraud that has been committed against the taxpayers of Ontario by Jason Hejja. He is the slumlord who owns or operates the house at 306 Innisfil St. in Barrie where our friend Jason (Bear) Marche was found dead on February 26th in an illegal, uninsulated, poorly heated trailer that had no working plumbing, no cooking facilities, and no access to sewage. The slumlord was charging ODSP $700.00 a month for that deathtrap. The response, that was unsigned, could have been just as easily communicated in two words starting and ending with “F”.

The message, again unsigned, went as follows:

“Dear John,

We are deeply sorry to hear about this tragic situation. MPP Khanjin’s heart goes out to the family and friends that knew Jason Marche, please accept our condolences.

The government of Ontario issues ODSP payments to individuals and does not direct individuals on how they allocate their personal budgets. Compliance with municipal property standards by-laws is the responsibility of property owners, and municipalities have the authority to inspect properties and enforce their by-laws.

Sincerely,

Unsigned”

This reply is an exact copy of the response below, that we received on March 14, 2022, from a representative of the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services media division. It is word for word exactly the same, which shows just how much Andrea Khanjin and her anonymous staff care about the poor, the disabled, and the desperate in Doug Ford’s Ontario. It is also little wonder that those who are now neck-deep in this ongoing and growing exposé refuse to provide their names that may become public.

"Following is the ministry’s response to your further email:

The government of Ontario issues ODSP payments to individuals and does not direct individuals on how they allocate their personal budgets. Compliance with municipal property standards by-laws is the responsibility of property owners, and municipalities have the authority to inspect properties and enforce their by-laws.”

We decided to wait a few days before posting this as we sent a reply to Andrea Khanjin, the same one we had sent to the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services. After all, why should we put in the effort of writing something new when all they have done is copy and paste an earlier response? We had hoped that perhaps this time the local MPP Andrea Khanjin would be a little more professional than some minion in the media department. We were wrong. So far we have received no response, and it is obvious why.

Our response, included below, asks how the act of fraud as committed against the taxpayers of Ontario through deception by the slumlord to the MCCSS through ODSP has ANY connection of ANY kind with property standards. The answer is none. Then the bell rang!

By deflecting the real issue that is their responsibility to another non-related municipal department the Conservative government can use the death of our friend to their political advantage, and it doesn’t get much creepier than that.

Jeff Lehman, the long-running and popular mayor of Barrie, is going head-to-head with Doug Downey as the Liberal candidate for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte. Downey is not only the MPP for that area but also the Attorney General of Ontario.

This information comes directly from the government’s own website, located at https://www.ontario.ca/page/attorney-general “Criminal prosecutions - The Attorney General is responsible for the prosecution of criminal offences. Prosecutors are agents of the Attorney General and conduct the prosecutions."

This official statement by the government of Ontario would suggest that the Attorney General could at the very least initiate the investigation and prosecution of the slumlord’s obvious offence under Section 380 of the Criminal Code of Canada, especially as it was committed against the taxpayers of Ontario.

Instead, the current Conservative government has repeatedly tried and failed to shunt the responsibility from the province to the city, with the intent being to make Jeff Lehman look responsible for an issue that has nothing to do with the City of Barrie; that being fraud committed against the taxpayers of Ontario.

Unfortunately for them, the tactics used by MPP Andrea Khanjin and every other representative of the Conservative government are now exposed as they clumsily try to dodge their own obligations to the voters of Barrie, Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil.

It should also be noted that the response from the anonymous member of Andrea Khanjin’s office was not truly voluntary. On Saturday, I recorded a community event in Innisfil which the MPP attended in her official capacity. I had no intention of ambushing her or taking any action to push this matter, as our public exposure is growing. Regardless, I did not see Andrea at the event for very long and was told she chose to leave coincidently very quickly after I arrived. Then, Monday afternoon we received a nearly two-week-old response.

This story is NOT going away and will likely be spreading like wildfire throughout the lead-up to the election. We have exposed political corruption and abuses of power in the past, and in at least one case our exposé video was acknowledged as being a significant influencer in the final vote of an election in which the incumbent we were profiling lost.

We want justice for Bear and nothing more. However, we will also never settle for anything less.

Our response to the anonymous staff member of Andrea Khanjin’s office is below.

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“Ms. Khanjin

Thank you for your eventual response to my email of March 11, 2022, a full ten days ago. This issue is clearly becoming a game of hot potato, especially as it is an election year.

I cannot fathom why fraud, committed against ODSP by the slumlord, Jason Hejja, is an issue for the Barrie Bylaw Enforcement or their Property Standards division.

The slumlord, Jason Hejja, received by direct deposit from ODSP $700.00 a month for the rent of an illegal dwelling in which a human being died.

I have attached Jason Marche’s ODSP payment form that was provided to me by the family.

Your office and the office of the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services chose to ignore that issue until I generated sufficient exposure, thus the delay in your response. The notoriety of these crimes is now growing exponentially.

You cannot simply brush under the rug the fraud that was committed against the taxpayers of Ontario by trying to make it an issue for the city.

Jason Hejja, and any partners he might have, clearly committed a crime under Section 380 of the Criminal Code of Canada that is worthy of investigation by the OPP and prosecution by the Crown Attorney.

The only reason I can think of for your office to not pursue these crimes is that one or more of the owners of 306 Innisfil St. support your campaign.

If that is the case, and we will soon know due to our ongoing research, this will become an issue to be investigated by the Integrity Commissioner.

Below is the content of the email I sent to an agent of the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services after they gave me the exact same answer you practically copied and pasted to me here.

My email to the agent was carbon copied to you but was of course ignored.

This agent chose to ignore these facts and not reply. I hope to receive better from your office.

John Ironside

Producer / Publisher, Ontario Community Awareness Network

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Thank you for your reply.

I have attached a scan of the Ontario Disability Support Program record of payment dated February 28, 2022, that was provided to me by Jason Marche’s family.

It clearly states that the amount provided for shelter is “$497.00”. However, it also states “Pay Dir-Rent $700.00.”

This would infer that Jason Hejja, who we accuse of defrauding taxpayers through the Ontario Disability Support Program, collected from the public coffers each month through direct payment from the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services.

It also suggests that the process of paying the rent was taken out of the hands of Jason Marche and that the responsibility for shelter was assumed by the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services.

By doing this, did the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services not “direct individuals on how they allocate their personal budgets” as you suggest is not the policy of the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services?

It would also suggest that as the Ontario Disability Support Program is paying the rent directly, they must hold some level of responsibility for ensuring the housing was legal and fit for human occupancy.

Your response suggests that the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services cares more about covering for their mistakes than about the health and wellbeing of those to whom you are legally obligated to serve.

Even if that is true, the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services has a responsibility to ensure that the budget provided to them by taxpayers is spent as intended and that fraud is not permitted to happen.

Upon discovery of fraud, or when evidence is presented that would support the allegation, the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services has an obligation under Section 380 of the Criminal Code of Canada to bring those suspicions to the attention of the appropriate investigative body, which is likely the Ontario Provincial Police.

It appears the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services assumed the role of agent for Jason Marche with regards to his rent.

If that is true, did your agents inspect the rental unit before entering into an agreement with Jason Hejja to pay for it with taxpayer money?

Does the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services have records of that inspection?

Would the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services be willing to make those records available to the family or the public?

Finally, do you have a copy of whatever you provide to your clients regarding their access to the “municipal property standards”?

It would seem reasonable to most that if the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services is in the habit of simply cutting loose people with disabilities, as your response suggests, that you would provide a means for them to act for themselves.

This is especially for people like the occupant of the basement apartment in Jason Hejja’s building, who suffers from cognitive limitations due to a brain injury. Who advocates for him?

Regards,


John Ironside
Producer / Director
Five Points Media
A division of the Ontario Community Awareness Network
A registered not-for-profit
Studio: 705-828-5605
Cell: 416-996-2786
Email: jironside@fivepointsmedia.ca

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A directory of several articles pertaining to this story can be found at: https://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/justiceforbear.html

If you haven't done so, please sign our petition seeking the prosecution of Bear's slumlord, Jason Hejja, at https://www.change.org/justiceforbear