140305 hearing 1
A hearing did indeed take place on March 5, chaired by Karol Wronecki, a Member of LTB. According to the Public Appointments Secretariat:
Karol Wronecki has degrees in Law and Public Administration from universities in Poland and Canada. After teaching Constitutional Law at the University of Wroclaw and York University in Ontario, Mr. Wronecki joined the Ontario government in 1982. For twenty-four years he worked in the administrative justice system as an Adjudicator and a Civil Servant. Mr. Wronecki adjudicated in and managed programs dealing with rent control and landlord and tenant legislation.
I had a previously scheduled appointment which had to be cancelled. Even though I have been unable to verify the existence of the hearing (see http://go.zodian.net/balmoralhoax1 and http://go.zodian.net/balmoralhoax2 or the PDF below for my attempts), I thought that there is a possibility that Mr. Smith had somehow corrupted the proceedings to the point where his hearing was impossible to verify. After all, in our very first conversation, he clearly stated his belief that he does not have to serve me with documents because in his mind I was "a nobody." Additionally, I had not been successful in my own attempt to schedule the hearing earlier (request to shorten).
At the tribunal, I checked the list of current hearings (displayed on a computer monitor) and 28 Balmoral was not listed. I then took a number for the LTB counter, and seeing that I was 10 digits behind, I went to have lunch, and on my return I was still about 5 behind, so I also signed with the duty counsel. My turn at the counter came just as the duty counsel was calling me in. I did manage to obtain a copy of application TSL-49396-14, which had as main parties Jack Steinman (Landlord) and Francois Deribere-Desgardes (Tenant - misspelled Desgardus), with Beverly Epstein, N.D. and Steven J Smith added as Landlord, Tenant and Landlord Agent, respectively, on a Schedule of Parties (306-28 as their address) and myself on the second page as "current occupant." There were no other documents or explanation, everything being blank, except for Part 3, which indicated the date of first learning about an occupant as February 7, 2014 and requesting the unauthorized occupant to pay compensation for each day at $750/month.
While I was reviewing the papers, Mr Smith appeared outside the room and started to take photos of me through the glass door. He then entered the room trying to provoke and talk to me even while I was ignoring him.
After establishing that despite all the signs to the contrary, a hearing was actually scheduled, I signed my name on the sign-in sheet, then took a seat in the hearing room A. Mr Smith stormed in shortly thereafter demanding that his application is heard. I took a seat on the left bench, forgetting my hat on. The Member asked me to take it off, reminding me that he represents the Queen. I took it off, apologizing. Mr Smith then left the room, the Member left the room as well, but eventually everybody returned, Mr Smith entering the room with an individual who later identified himself as Alex Bottoni.
After the Member signaled a desire to allow Mr Smith's application to proceed, I moved to request an adjournment for the following reasons:
right to counsel (I had not been able to retain a legal representative)
right to a fair hearing (I had not been properly served, had no time to prepare)
no prejudice to the Landlord (no longer lived there; all rent was paid through the day I had given back the keys)
My request for an adjournment was denied when Mr Smith presented the Member some paper he refused to show me which supposedly proved his service. When I requested that Mr Smith presents me with copies of the documents he enters as evidence, Mr Smith claimed that he did not have copies because "we didn't think he was going to show up." The Member nonetheless accepted Mr Smith's evidence and stamped it.
Mr Smith then expressed a desire to have not only his application, but also my application heard on that day. He introduced papers he claimed were printed off this website without showing them to me or providing me with a copy. He told the Member that "this person is inventing new methods of service via his website" but then urged the Member to abstain from visiting this website because "it's hacked," while continuing to introduce documents presumably published here. I stated that I had no way to check and that this website is work in progress and in Beta. The Member appeared to think that I should know and be able to authenticate every document that is read to me without having the benefit of prior service. The Member then requested the address of the website, claiming he wants to see the documents are truly printed off the website before I have a chance to change it.
Mr Smith continued to introduce a number of other papers that I could not see. At one point, it seemed (from his comments) that he was showing the Member correspondence from Mr Francois Deribere-Degardes, raising questions about his handling of a conflict of interests - he was "advising" Mr Deribere, a foreigner without a good command of English, even while suing him. Though Mr Smith has revealed to some extent this conflict of interest in written communication with me marked "without prejudice," by raising this during the proceedings he has willfully relinquished said protections.
Mr Smith introduced as evidence a copy of Mr Deribere's Termination Notice (presented here on the Contract page) and a number of other documents, again without either showing them to me or even presenting me with copies of said documents. I pointed out to the Member that if this evidence was not corrupted (which I could not check), it should have shown that the one assertion made in the Application in front of the Member - i.e., that the Landlord had learned about my occupancy on February 7 - was false, as they obviously had learned about it on January 2, if not from meeting me, then from the written Notice.
In the end, the Member saved his decision pending my written submission to his fax number in Mississauga (905-279-7286).