An accusation of bias isn't always a big deal. We all have biases we'll readily admit to. I'm biased against argyle socks, anything with white 'chocolate,' and people who join a conservative political party. But for many serious journalists, there is no dirtier four-letter word. Journalists are supposed to be aware of biases, both their own (especially their own) and those of others. And they are supposed to make some effort to consider or seek out opposing views.
I admit that I would not be a very good journalist, even if I am sometimes able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
CBC journalist Trevor Dunn has an agenda: "things to be done." He has to pick up the dry cleaning, call his mother, and help generate public outrage about professional tenant James Regan. With well over 10,000 'shares' of the Regan story, Dunn has generated nearly as much outrage as Hydro One's 'smart' meters.
Slow down, you might say. The story is newsworthy. No one should be able to abuse the system the way Regan has. And when Dunn repeatedly reminds readers that tenants have an automatic right to appeal a LTB ruling, he's simply telling us what Regan's current landlord can expect.
No, he isn't.
What's actually happening: large landlords have persuaded the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing Policy Branch [Residential and Commercial Tenancies Unit]) to reconsider that right to appeal. LTB rulings would be final.
Can they do that? Isn't the right to appeal a court decision firmly established? Yes, it is. But boards and tribunals are not courts, and common law has, erm, 'failed' to entrench the right to appeal their decisions. Provinces must create this right through statute. Tenants in Ontario currently have this right, but they may be about to lose it.
Plenty of large landlords are members of the Ontario Liberal Party, I'm sure.
According to the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, fewer than 1% of LTB decisions are appealed to a divisional court. (This is a depressing statistic, since the LTB has been very landlord-friendly since ... forever. It was established by Harper's government, after all.) Almost no one abuses this right. James Regan is an anomaly.
There is obviously little need to amend the Residential Tenancies Act. With ready access to CBC researchers, and with a professional obligation to seek out those opposing views, Trevor Dunn should be aware of this.
There are two sides to any story. Dunn will have learned this in his first journalism course at Carleton or Humber or Bahrain Technical Institute.
In tenants ats. landlords, it's the tenants who lack the resources, and a voice in big media. Trevor Dunn and CBC Toronto want us to believe that tenancy law is biased against landlords, and they know that repetition creates reality.
I admit that I would not be a very good journalist, even if I am sometimes able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
 |
| Source |
Slow down, you might say. The story is newsworthy. No one should be able to abuse the system the way Regan has. And when Dunn repeatedly reminds readers that tenants have an automatic right to appeal a LTB ruling, he's simply telling us what Regan's current landlord can expect.
No, he isn't.
What's actually happening: large landlords have persuaded the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing Policy Branch [Residential and Commercial Tenancies Unit]) to reconsider that right to appeal. LTB rulings would be final.
Can they do that? Isn't the right to appeal a court decision firmly established? Yes, it is. But boards and tribunals are not courts, and common law has, erm, 'failed' to entrench the right to appeal their decisions. Provinces must create this right through statute. Tenants in Ontario currently have this right, but they may be about to lose it.
Plenty of large landlords are members of the Ontario Liberal Party, I'm sure.
According to the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, fewer than 1% of LTB decisions are appealed to a divisional court. (This is a depressing statistic, since the LTB has been very landlord-friendly since ... forever. It was established by Harper's government, after all.) Almost no one abuses this right. James Regan is an anomaly.
There is obviously little need to amend the Residential Tenancies Act. With ready access to CBC researchers, and with a professional obligation to seek out those opposing views, Trevor Dunn should be aware of this.
There are two sides to any story. Dunn will have learned this in his first journalism course at Carleton or Humber or Bahrain Technical Institute.
In tenants ats. landlords, it's the tenants who lack the resources, and a voice in big media. Trevor Dunn and CBC Toronto want us to believe that tenancy law is biased against landlords, and they know that repetition creates reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment