Both Chris and Francois mentioned to me that the Landlord is well connected in the government - apparently James had told them so, and as such the Landlord can do things to you that other landlords cannot, pretty much without fearing any retribution. I tried explaining to them that Canada is not a banana republic, as much as some miss an equatorial climate and the biodiversity that comes with it. They smiled to me bitterly, with a "you don't know Jack" expression, as if I was being naive for believing in law and evidence.
For a while, due to lack of time and my assumption that James was just speculating their paranoid tendencies, I did not look into the background of the Landlords.
I first searched for Beverly Epstein as it seemed odd that she was not signing leases yet most correspondence seemed to be coming from her. I only found a dermatologist in San Francisco and a surgeon in West Virginia by this name, and I strongly doubt that they all are the same person. However, when searching for Jack Steinman, I discovered a Jack Steinman with an office at 25 St Clair Ave E, in the non-descript federal government "Arthur Meighen" building I noticed in my stroll through the neighbourhood. This might suggest that they are the same person, though I am not fully confident. In any event, to differentiate between Jack Steinman the Landlord, about whose agent(s)' modus operandi I have first hand knowledge (prima facie), and Jack Steinman the Professional, about whom I only recently learned through Google, via publicly listed information, I shall call the latter Jack Steinman, OSB.
A federal government website lists his office coordinates. He appears to be working for the "Office of Superintendent of Bankruptcy," an agency within Industry Canada, and is listed as Regional Director for the Ontario Region. I did not quite understand what he does from that website and I did not have the time to read the law, but I found more info, surprisingly, on Toronto Central Health Line:
Supervises administration of estates in bankruptcy, commercial reorganizations, consumer proposals and receivership, under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
investigates complaints regarding possible wrongdoing by individuals involved in insolvency process
maintains a publicly accessible record of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings
licenses private-sector trustees to administer estates and appoints administrators of consumer proposals
There is also more info on CanLII and Wikipedia. My guess is that his most important function in terms of potential corruption power is the licensing of trustees.
CEWC, an organization that invited him to give a speech at a 2012 conference, lists the following:
Science Jack worked for a number of years in the private sector before joining the Federal Public Service over 20 years ago. He began his career in the Public Service with Revenue Canada in Toronto before becoming a Policy Officer in Headquarters at the International Taxation Division for four years. He then returned to Toronto in 1993 where he joined the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy OSB.
Additionally (source),
After obtaining an Honours B.A. from York University in Canadian Studies/Political Science, Jack worked for a number of years in the private sector before joining the Federal Public Service over 20 years ago. He began his career in the Public Service with Revenue Canada in Toronto before becoming a Policy Officer in Headquarters at the International Taxation Division for four years.
He then returned to Toronto in 1993, where he joined the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (“OSB”). He began as an Official Receiver/Bankruptcy Officer, moving to the National Audit Group, then Division Assistant Superintendent before becoming the Interim Regional Director with the launch of the OSB’s reorganization a few years ago. Now, as the Regional Director in Ontario, Jack is responsible for maintaining a cohesive and consistent approach amongst the four offices in the region, namely, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, and London which regularly account for over 40% of the national insolvency filing volumes.
There is nothing wrong with working for the government - I'm sure there are thousands of great people doing so in Toronto alone. Most of them work hard to make benefit great nation of Canada. What is wrong is using your position and power in abusing the law and then interfering with the abused's efforts to obtain justice. Intimidating your customers and creating a climate of fear where nobody dares to report abuse cannot be right. It is also wrong to use your position in government to acquire property from insolvent individuals at below-market rates, though I have yet to find any evidence that this is how Jack Steinman, the commercial landlord, has built his budding housing rental empire.