On February 26th, 2022, a likable Barrie man and father, Jason (Bear) Marche, was found dead in an uninsulated and poorly heated trailer in the backyard of 306 Innisfil St. Bear was not homeless. ODSP had paid the slumlord $700.00 of taxpayer money every month to rent what he claimed was a legal dwelling but was in truth little more than a freezing cold metal box without running water, cooking, or working sewage facilities. So far, no other media outlet in Simcoe County has told the truth of this story, and Conservative politicians are refusing to act regarding transparent crimes. The reason is becoming obvious.

For the facts of what seems clear to be a cover-up, please review our articles at:

https://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/justiceforbear.html

During the past week, we have been reaching out to Andrea Khanjin, MPP for Barrie-Innisfil, and to the media address for the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services. Every attempt at communications has been ignored completely, except when an agent for the MCCSS took the time to write three lines of text denying all accountability, even though the agency paid the landlord directly. Then she tried throwing the City of Barrie Bylaw Enforcement under the bus. When we rebutted her apparent deceptions using evidence provided by the MCCSS, all doors slammed shut.

There has been one other media story, to which we have provided a link below. The ‘article’ at Simcoe.com is not journalism. It is one-sided reporting, otherwise known as propaganda. The writer did not speak with Bear’s mother nor with his other family members, and they did not even try to reach other tenants or people nearby to the house who knew the truth. That was not the purpose of the story. The ‘journalist’ spoke to one person, the slumlord Jason Hejja, and the writer simply regurgitated whatever he said verbatim. We question the motivation behind this supposed ‘journalism’. Was the reporter lazy or were they otherwise motivated? https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/10581333--forever-missed-community-mourns-barrie-man-found-dead-in-rented-trailer/

The Conservative politicians and the local mainstream media have one very strong common bond in Barrie. They both serve the wealthy; most of whom run local businesses. Mainstream media is financed by advertising, and the old saying of “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” strongly applies. I remember how, while working in mainstream media in a similarly Conservative city, a story about a pedophile was suddenly pulled from the evening news because the pervert’s father was a major advertiser with the station. The truth in Conservative cities is often buried when profit is the primary focus.

Conservative politicians serve only the top 10 - 20% of our population. The rest of us are expected to do their bidding and make those people more profit. So, why would either of them tell the truth or take action to hold the slumlord, Jason Hejja, accountable, especially as he has told me personally that he is essentially the property manager and a small investment holder, and that the house is owned by a group of unidentified local businesspeople.

So, what do we do when the mainstream media will not report on a story ethically, and Conservative politicians will not take action to expose the truth of the fraud and negligence committed by the slumlord that could have led to the death of a constituent?

The answer is obvious. We will exercise our right to find out who owns the house. If it is a corporation, which seems likely, we will learn through public records who owns and controls the business. Then we trace the businesses owned by the board members and shareholders and we will expose them as we have Jason Hejja. We will also see if any of them have other rental housing in Barrie or elsewhere either individually or as a group, and we will investigate the condition and legality of those rental units, reporting what we find to the appropriate authorities. Then, once we have that information and we expose who is hiding from their responsibilities, we will move on to find out where they advertise their businesses in order to expose which local sources of ‘journalism’ sell their ethics for profit.

We will also review the public record of doners for politicians like Andrea Khanjin, who has refused to reply to any of our requests for information. We will also look at contributors to Doug Ford and to the Conservative party in general. We feel this will help to explain why these sworn servants of the people refuse to act against a man or group of people who at the very least defrauded ODSP. Through their silence and inaction, these 'public servants' are screaming that the Conservative party approves of negligence by a single slumlord or a group of local business owners that could have led to a man’s death.

Be assured, all of these actions are entirely legal, and they are the kind of resources real journalists use to get to the bottom of a story before they publish it. We have the right to publish the truth. If we had lied at any time during our reporting of this story, you can be assured that Jason Hejja would have long ago served us with a lawsuit for libel and/or an injunction to cease and desist from telling this story. The fact that he has not done so speaks volumes as to who is telling the truth of this story.

The attempts by the government to stonewall this story into obscurity have resulted in the opposite of what they intended. This week, we have seen at least two men using professional DSLR cameras to take pictures of the house at 306 Innisfil St. and even venturing into the backyard. We can speculate that they are journalists. Remember, our studio is right next door, and we share a driveway. Through our surveillance cameras, we see much more than the slumlord(s) would wish to be the case. Our website is also now being visited daily by mainstream media, mostly from Toronto.

Stay tuned, this story is far from over, and we will get #justiceforbear

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