Tuesday, November 23, 2021

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Toronto Parking Authority tried to sell public land in pricey midtown area to condo developer

Land was earmarked for a public park north of Yonge

Street and Eglinton Avenue

Michael Smee · CBC News · 
The Green P lot at Yonge Street and Castlefield Avenue. At right is the old Capitol Theatre. The new condo project will include a 10-metre strip of the lot along the theatre's back wall. (Grant Linton/CBC)

The agency that oversees parking in Toronto tried to sell a piece of prime midtown property to a condo developer without city permission —  even though staff had identified the land as a good spot for a much-needed neighbourhood park, CBC News has learned.

The land sale agreement involving the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) would have seen the Green P lot on Castlefield Avenue, a few blocks north of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue, transformed into a block-long condo tower, but councillors found out about the deal in June of 2018 and put a stop to it.

The city solicitor asked council last week to keep the deal a secret. But CBC News pieced together the timeline and the details of the agreement and its aftermath by speaking with the area city councillor and then reviewing legal and real estate records for the property. The city, the TPA and the developer all declined to go on the record for this story. 

"It was quite astonishing," Coun. Mike Colle, who represents the neighbourhood, told CBC Toronto. "The TPA obviously did not do something that was kosher. [It was] very disturbing ... I'm glad that we were able to get the park back."

Coun. Mike Colle, who represents Ward 8, Eglinton-Lawrence, says he is relieved the city was able to win back the parking lot property, which he wants transformed into a park. (Grant Linton/CBC )

The agreement led to several years of legal wrangling and negotiations. Last week, after three years of efforts behind the scenes and a lawsuit, city council voted to take the city solicitor's advice and keep the details of a settlement it reached with the developer confidential, citing the potential for further litigation over the botched TPA deal. 

The TPA doesn't own the land that it manages. Instead, it oversees it on behalf of the city. According to city documents, the TPA  didn't have the necessary permission from council when it agreed to sell the land in 2016, 

Although the Castlefield sale had not yet been finalized with the developer, Madison Group, the original agreement was still in place in June of 2018, about a month after city staff identified the four-hectare lot as a good spot for a neighbourhood park.

And as far back as 2014, commercial parking lots in the neighbourhood had been identified by city staff as potential new parks.

The Yonge-Eglinton area is undergoing intensification after the city identified it as a neighbourhood that could sustain a larger population. (Grant Linton/CBC)

It wasn't until its June 2018 meeting that council instructed city staff to try to nix the sale.

That decision led to a lawsuit about two months later by Madison Group against the city for breaking the original agreement.

That lawsuit dragged on for two years, during which the city could have been developing the new Castlefield park, according to Colle, who has championed that effort.

"The area's being flooded with wall-to-wall condos," Colle said. "We need more green space, parks, desperately."

City staff have written in the past that residents of the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood are among the most starved for green space in the city, with fewer than 43 hectares —  or less than half a football field — of parkland per 1,000 people.

The lawsuit was finally settled in September of 2020, when the city and Madison agreed to swap parcels of land, each worth about $1 million.

An ad for the new condo complex that Madison Group plans to build using the old Capitol Theatre, and part of a Green P lot at Yonge Street and Castlefield Avenue. (Chris Ensing/CBC)

Madison currently owns the closed Capitol Theatre on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Castlefield Avenue, which it planned to develop into a condo tower. That building could have stretched the full block, from Yonge to Duplex Avenue, had the parking lot sale gone through.

Instead, in the land swap, Madison gets only the easternmost strip of the Green P lot, expanding its footprint for the condo building by about 10 metres. In return, the city gets a 10-metre strip of land along the lot's northern edge.

It's unclear how much money would have changed hands, had the TPA agreement to sell Madison the full lot been finalized, or how much time city legal staff spent fighting the court battle.

Neither the TPA nor the city will talk about the deal or its aftermath. Both say confidentiality agreements are in place.

Former city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who sat on the TPA board at the time of the deal with Madison, said he doesn't remember hearing anything about it. 

"I don't recall any reports coming to the board about it," he said.

The TPA is no stranger to controversy. Just a few months before the December, 2016 Castlefield sale agreement was signed, the city's auditor, Beverly Romeo-Beehler, issued the first of two reports slamming the authority for its handling of another land deal — the attempted purchase of an Arrow Road lot for about $2.5 million more than its actual value. That controversy led city council to fire the entire TPA board of directors.

'You can barely see the sky'

Shari Lash, vice chair of the Eglinton Park Residents Association and a 12-year resident of the area, agreed her neighbourhood desperately needs this park.

"It almost slipped through our fingers," she told CBC Toronto.

"There's so much development you can barely see the sky," she said. "There are shadows constantly, and there are going to be more of those shadows because the buildings are getting higher and higher. We just need to have spaces for us."

Shari Lash, who is an area resident, is pictured here in the parking lot that will eventually be turned into a music-themed park. (Chris Ensing/CBC)

Three months ago, the Castlefield lot was formally rezoned as parkland, according to Colle.

"I'm hoping by early 2023," the new, music-themed park will open on what was once a parking lot, he said.  

And as for the opening ceremonies? He's hoping to get singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell to attend, and perform her song Big Yellow Taxi.

"You know, 'They paved paradise'? We want to do the opposite here. We want to make it into a park."

With files from Nicole Brockbank, John Lancaster and Chris Ensing

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
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Workers want a flexible future at work. What do employers want?

Employers are trying to map out post-pandemic plans

Geoff Nixon · CBC News · 
Across Canada, employers are trying to map out what's best for their organizations in a post-pandemic era, in terms of how they'll structure their working arrangements. (Southworks/Shutterstock)

In the past 12 months, Noah Arney changed jobs, moved provinces and returned to the office.

In doing so, he's benefited from both office life and home-based work — including when he started his new job in Kamloops, B.C.

"I was able to to change jobs without having to move my family in January — and if you've ever been in Calgary in January, it's a good thing not to have to do that," said Arney, a career development professional, who actually moved to B.C. months later.

Noah Arney, a B.C.-based career development professional, has seen the advantages of both working at home and in an office setting. (Submitted by Noah Arney)

Now, Arney is working in an office again and that suits him, too, as he builds new connections and gets up to speed in his new job.

"It's been a strange experience, but I've really enjoyed it," said Arney.

Across Canada, employers are trying to map out what's best for their organizations in a post-pandemic era, in terms of how they'll structure their working arrangements going forward and how that will affect employees.

Yet employers are under pressure to embrace a more flexible future, and it seems some larger organizations are listening.

More flexibility

At Microsoft Canada, there's an expectation the future will be different for its more than 4,000 Canadian employees.

"We believe extreme flexibility and hybrid work will define the post-pandemic workplace," Microsoft spokesperson Lisa Gibson told CBC News via email.

A Microsoft Canada spokesperson told CBC News that the company believes 'flexibility and hybrid work will define the post-pandemic workplace.' The company employs more than 4,000 people in Canada. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Gibson said Microsoft was equipped for remote work before COVID-19 and some of its staff did work outside the office occasionally. But she said the pandemic saw "the overwhelming majority" work from home full-time.

As the pandemic eases and the company fully reopens its operations, the majority of staff will be able to work from home at least half the time — and they won't need managerial approval to do so.

The tech sector is one where most jobs can be done remotely. The people seeking those jobs know that, and a lot of them want that flexibility.

Karen Agulnik, a senior account manager with Toronto-based ARES Staffing Solutions, says that hybrid has become "the buzzword," particularly in the IT sector. But other sectors have a mix of positions with varying suitability for remote working arrangements.

Some types of employment lend themselves to remote work more easily than others. (Jenny Kane/The Associated Press)

Alberta's ATB Financial has had a mix of arrangements during the pandemic.

Staff working in branches have continued working on-site — albeit with necessary COVID-era adjustments — while staff whose roles could be done remotely were asked to work at home.

For corporate team members still working at home, the goal is for them to spend more time in the office as soon as mid-January.

In an emailed statement, Tara Lockyer, ATB's chief people officer, said the financial institution, which employs more than 5,000, has "a strong desire" for its corporate team members to work in the office at least some of the time.

Who has control?

Yu-Ping Chen, an associate professor in the department of management at Montreal's Concordia University, believes there are a number of downsides to working from home — and in his view, they outweigh the advantages.

Yu-Ping Chen, an associate professor at Concordia University, says some companies with people working at home during the pandemic are feeling a loss of control. (Submitted by Yu-Ping Chen)

The negatives include distraction and fatigue stemming from long periods of working online, a blurring of the lines between work and home life, as well as pressure to be responsive to work demands outside of office hours.

Meanwhile, Chen said, employers "are feeling a loss of control" amid a redistributed, home-based workforce.

And with millions of Canadians now used to working at home, it's clear that regaining that control may face some pushback from employees.

"Some of them ... are just so used to working from home," said Chen, who predicts some portion of the workforce will never return to the office, even after the pandemic recedes.

Not the same at home

For Agulnik, a veteran recruiter, working from home is not a problem.

But she thinks it's a different story when it comes to training new people, as they need more in-person attention.

Younger people taking their first steps in a career are the very people Arney works with as a career services co-ordinator.

WATCH |  A right to disconnect? 

Ontario proposes right-to-disconnect legislation for workers

29 days ago
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The Ontario government has proposed legislation giving workers the right to disconnect, claiming it would help achieve a better work-life balance. But countries that have implemented similar policies, including France, say having set 'off' hours didn’t solve the problem. 2:00

From what he's seen, the incoming recruits don't seem to have "a definite preference one way or the other" when it comes to working from home or in an office.

But they are weighing the advantages of being in an office at a crucial time in their working lives.

"I think a lot of them really do want to have those one-to-one, in-person interactions," said Arney, noting a lot of workplace learning takes place during informal, face-to-face conversations.

"But the pandemic's not over and I think they're very aware of that."

Listening to feedback

At Klick Health, a health marketing company that employs more than 1,000 people in Canada and the United States, most employees are still working from home.

That balance is shifting a bit, as a limited number of employees have voluntarily returned to in-person work.

WATCH | The career impact of WFH: 

Remote work might inhibit career advancement, some experts say

5 months ago
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Many Canadians want to continue working from home after the pandemic, but those who do, or opt for a hybrid model, may find it limits career advancement and promotions. 2:03

"More and more are choosing to come into the office, notably to collaborate on projects," Glenn Zujew, the company's chief people officer, told CBC News in an emailed statement.

Zujew said internal surveys have indicated at least 35 per cent of Klick staff aren't "quite ready" to come back to in-person work yet, while "many" want to be back in the office eventually.

The company will soon be launching listening sessions "to dig deeper into these areas."

ATB Financial's Lockyer said there's a recognition that some work can be done better in a remote setting, while other kinds of work "need more collaboration and interaction."

ATB Financial, which employs more than 5,000 people in Alberta, has 'a strong desire' for its corporate team members to work in the office at least some of the time. (Submitted by ATB Financial)

To that end, the company is talking to its leaders and team members to understand "where the work is best done."

At Microsoft, Gibson said the company has been hearing that workers want to be able to collaborate more directly with their colleagues, but also want to retain their remote working capabilities.

"We refer to this trend as the hybrid work paradox — whereby employees want the flexibility of remote work as well as the inspiration and ease of in-person collaboration," said Gibson.

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123456789
Do you use one of the 20 most common passwords in Canada?

Tom YunCTVNews.ca writer
Published Sunday, November 21, 2021 


TORONTO -- Cybersecurity company NordPass, which sells password managements services, has published its list of the top 200 most common passwords in Canada and says too many Canadians are using passwords that can be easily guessed.

This year's list of most common passwords in Canada was topped by the usual suspects, such as "password," "qwerty," "abc123" and different variations of "123456." These passwords also dominated the list of most common passwords in other countries and around the world.

But there were a few entries that were unique to Canada. NordPass says Canadians had "perhaps the largest number of country-related passwords." "canada" was the 15th-most-common password in this country. Other common country-related passwords on the list include "toronto," "montreal" and "canada1."

Related Links
List of the 200 most common paswords

Sports was found to be another frequently occurring theme. Fittingly, "hockey" was the 11th-most-common password in Canada while "soccer," " baseball" and "basketball" ranked lower on the list.

There were also differences in the types of passwords preferred by men and women. Canadian men were more than three times as likely as women to use the password "hockey," while passwords like "iloveyou," "princess" and "sunshine" were far more common among women.

The researchers also found that many Canadians were using their own names as their password. "tiffany" was the eighth-most-common password in Canada. Names like "maggie," "matthew," "bailey," "michelle" and "andrew" were also in the top 50.

NordPass says 144 out of the top 200 most common passwords in Canada can be cracked in less than one second. Of the 50 countries it analyzed, the firm says Canada had the eighth highest number of passwords leaked per capita.

“Unfortunately, passwords keep getting weaker and people still don’t maintain proper password hygiene,” NordPass Jonas Karklys said in a news release. “It’s important to understand that passwords are the gateway to our digital lives, and with us spending more and more time online, it’s becoming enormously important to take better care of our cybersecurity.”

NordPass recommends using a unique password for every account. A good password should be at least 12 characters long with a combination of numbers, letters and symbols.

Since the average user has more than 100 accounts, storing them in a password manager can make it easier to keep track of passwords, Nordpass says. Using multi-factor authentication, such as a text message code or an authenticator app, can also add an additional layer of protection.

THE TOP 20 MOST COMMON PASSWORDS IN CANADA
123456
password
123456789
12345
12345678
qwerty
abc123
tiffany
password1
testing
hockey
1234567
iloveyou
1234
canada
1234567890
111111
sunshine
123123
dragon

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Lower rent, fewer chores: why grown-up dorm life might be the answer for Toronto’s housing-hungry millennials

 NOV 21, 2021

Hubert de Blignieres doesn’t want to deal with moving furniture and dishes and he certainly doesn’t want to contend with problematic roommates.

So for most of the last two years, de Blignieres, 35, has been renting a bedroom in a fully furnished, shared, four-storey townhouse in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood, where he is also working to start a business.

He rented the master bedroom before the pandemic prompted him to return to his hometown of Paris, France. Now that he’s back in Toronto, he is renting a secondary bedroom for $1,600 a month and he scoffs at the idea of letting his own apartment.

In a city where one-bedroom apartments are going for north of $2,000 a month on average, more companies are betting on co-living — a grown-up version of dorm life — to take off in Toronto the way it has in other expensive locales such as San Francisco and New York.

One Toronto developer has already submitted plans to build a co-living community in the Weston area, while another New York-based co-living company is planning to bring 650 units here.

Co-living spaces, where adults rent a room in a shared townhouse or apartment for less than they would pay for a one-bedroom or studio apartment, often comes with other perks, such as dry-cleaning pickup, high-end amenities and — something many single Torontonians have been missing during the pandemic — company.

The home de Blignieres currently shares with two other people is operated by a company called Sociable Living, one of the city’s first co-living operators. It is cleaned weekly and stocked regularly with everyday items from toilet paper and shampoo to dish soap — everything except food.

“It’s very convenient. I hate moving in. I hate furniture, so it’s super easy for me. The location is the best. I’m 15 minutes from the airport — the UP (Express) train, that’s amazing,” he said.

Three or four tenants, depending on the size of the townhouse — matched by Sociable Living — share a common kitchen, living room, rooftop deck and, in some cases, a bathroom.

Co-living remains relatively unknown in Toronto, but that is changing.

Toronto developer EDEV is proposing a nine-storey building on Weston Road, north of Denison Road East, that would combine 26 co-living apartments with 16 traditional apartments. The proposal is before Etobicoke Community Council on Monday.

New York-based co-living company Common is also developing 650 units here, although it would not say where and when it expects those to be built. Meantime, it is designing and managing a mixed-use building in Ottawa as part of a master-planned development by Dreams Unlimited.

Common claims its co-living rooms rent for about 15 to 25 per cent less than a studio apartment in the same neighbourhood.

“I see so many similarities in Toronto’s housing crisis to what we’ve seen in places like New York City and Seattle, where Common was able to add more housing stock and attainable options for renters,” said CEO Brad Hargreaves in an email responding to questions from the Star.

EDEV’s co-living expert Vanessa Flint says while young adults will remember the community feeling of their college days, modern co-living spaces are very different than dorms or rooming houses.

They are beautifully designed homes that offer everything from luxe finishes and high-end coffee makers to services such as dry cleaning pickup, parcel delivery and apps that unlock doors or alert management when something needs to be repaired.

“This is appealing to a whole generation that uses Uber to get around, uses Uber Eats to get their food delivered every night. They’re living and enjoying life and having experiences,” said Flint.

The concept is most attractive, she said, to a mobile generation that doesn’t expect to work in the same place their entire career, that is less possession-oriented and more sustainability minded so they don’t necessarily want to buy their own appliances and dishes.

“It’s not because they can’t afford it. It’s because they don’t want it. They don’t want to put such a large percentage of their income toward their housing costs,” said Flint.

EDEV says Weston appeals to tenants among the 50,000 Pearson Airport-area workers and those who want to get downtown in 15 minutes.

Roman Bodnarchuk, the founder of Sociable Living, won’t say how many townhomes his company rents as co-living spaces in the Junction and on Berkeley Street downtown or in its expanded markets in Miami and Costa Rica.

“What I can tell you is, in our very first year (2019), we had over 100 residents,” he said.

Sociable Living tenants sign on for a three-month minimum stay but there is no longer term lease. Although there are exceptions, Bodnarchuk prefers to rent to singles. Couples tend to stay in and cook every night so they end up dominating the fridge space, he said.

Sociable Living solves a lot of the problems of renting, says Bodnarchuk. Newcomers to the city face a highly competitive rental market.

“Unless you have a great credit report, you’re not going to get a place,” he said.

Then there is the expense: “Let’s say you saw a one-bedroom apartment for $1,750. It sounds appealing. Except you haven’t factored in about $15,000 worth of stuff that you need to live,” he said.

That’s a huge investment in a gig economy, says Bodnarchuk. He claims Sociable Living saves its tenants an average of $500 a month on furniture and housekeeping costs.

“All you really need is a suitcase. We pay for all the utilities. We have the fastest internet in the city. We’ve got Netflix and 65-inch smart TVs. It’s all the best stuff but it’s stress free,” he said.

One of the biggest benefits of co-living is that it provides instant community, something Bodnarchuk says is rare in apartments and condos.

“Loneliness is an epidemic. It’s worse than smoking and people don’t even talk about it,” he said. “That’s why everyone in Toronto has a dog. That’s how they’re solving it — with an animal. We’re doing it with humans and I think it’s very powerful.”

He expects a schedule of regular social events, which have been suspended during the pandemic, to be reinstated in January.

With the exception of one person, de Blignieres says he has made friends with all the tenants who have moved through his townhouse.

“I’m French from France. We are used to sharing everything,” says de Blignieres. But, to make co-living work, there has to be respect for shared space.

“We have to be able to communicate and tell each other when there’s something we do that bothers the other one, explain to new people how it works — living with some rules in a community,” he said.

“When people listen to that, it’s really amazing. It’s really fun,” said de Blignieres, who has lately been enjoying jam sessions with a new flatmate, who plays guitar.

“We have a lovely time together,” he said of his two current roommates.

Bodnarchuk says he’s only ever had one roommate situation that went wrong. But there is always one empty room available so that, in the event of a situation doesn’t work out, someone can be instantly moved to a home in the same area.

Sociable Living is “creating a modern family,” he said. New tenants undergo the usual criminal record check and an interview with their prospective housemates, who can give a newcomer the thumbs down. But a modern family requires modern methods and Bodnarchuk also employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) in matching tenants.

“It sounds scary but it’s not,” he said. The AI, “reads every social media post that you’ve ever done on every platform. So within seconds (it) can read every Facebook, Twitter and Google post. Based on the words and the frequency that you use, it’s incredibly accurate at predicting your personality type. We can overlay that with the other roommates. We’ll know within seconds if it’s going to work or not,” he said.

Flint points out that co-living has been around forever. The latest format is driven by changing lifestyles.

“A lot of young professionals want to live in an urban area. Yet, to go and get a one bedroom (apartment) by themselves is quite costly,” she said.

Co-living is a relatively affordable alternative.

Tess Kalinowski is a Toronto-based reporter covering real estate for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tesskalinowski

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N.W.T. MLA calls for ouster of fellow MLA over Facebook messages

MLA Freida Martselos said Norn breached privilege with

continued pattern of 'offensive language'

Natalie Pressman · CBC News · 
Thebacha MLA Frieda Martselos speaking in the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly in February 2020. She said that if the Speaker finds that MLA Steve Norn breached privilege, she'll move a motion to have Norn vacate his seat. (Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada )

Thebacha MLA Frieda Martselos is calling on the Speaker of the Northwest Territories Legislature to find that Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn breached privilege so she can put forward a motion to have his seat vacated.

On the first day of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly's fall sitting, Martselos said Norn made comments that undermined her feelings of public safety before a Legislative Assembly inquiry that looked into whether Norn had violated the MLA code of conduct took place.

The inquiry looked into whether Norn had breached a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period last April after returning to the N.W.T. from Alberta, and made inaccurate statements about it to media.

The sole adjudicator in the inquiry found Norn had violated the Legislative Assembly's code of conduct and recommended his expulsion from the assembly, and that his seat be declared vacant.

Martselos pointed to messages Norn sent to other caucus members and legislature support staff in which he said he would "come for them," for backing what led to the inquiry. 

Martselos noted in particular a Facebook message sent to an MLA group chat the night before the start of the public inquiry. In it, Norn wrote, "I just want to say f--k you for making my loved ones cry. You squeezed my heart. Whoever backed this, I'm coming for you."

Martselos also noted "offensive language" Norn used toward deputy clerk Glen Rutland and Rylund Johnson, MLA for Yellowknife North and caucus chair, who filed the complaint with the territory's integrity commissioner on the caucus' behalf.

He told both of them that he was "coming for them."

Johnson later responded that although he did not interpret the comments as a physical threat, and that Norn apologized and the two went on to have an amicable conversation, he still believes the threats "amount to a breach in our privilege to feel safe in this house, to feel safe in our jobs."

'Intention was to intimidate us emotionally and psychologically'

Martselos said that Norn's conduct demonstrated "a continued pattern of threatening behaviour," and "undermined the dignity, integrity and efficient functioning of the Legislative Assembly as a whole."

Nine other members echoed Martselos's comments that officials need to be able to do their work without fear of threats or intimidation. 

Kevin O'Reilly, MLA for Frame Lake, told the Assembly that he called the RCMP after receiving Norn's Facebook message.

"The intention of the message from the member from Tu-Nedhé-Wiilideh remains unclear," O'Reilly said, "but I was very concerned for the safety of my family and myself knowing the that the member for Tu-Nedhé-Wiilideh lives in Yellowknife, has been a member of RCMP and has likely received firearm training."

Julie Green, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, said she thought about doing the same. 

Caroline Wawzonek, MLA for Yellowknife South, said she has heard multiple instances of Norn using language "that was more than rude. It was abusive."

Yellowknife South MLA Caroline Wawzonek said she understood Norn's use of "coming for you," to mean that "some form of revenge." (Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada)

She said that she understand his use of "coming for you," to mean "some form of revenge."

"I believe that the intention was to intimidate us emotionally and psychologically," she said. "I believe this threat was to intimidate us into silence and inaction in our professional capacity ... His behaviour and his speech is that of someone who believes that the rules simply do not apply to him." 

Norn responded that his words were "in no way meant to be a physical threat."

'This has all been twisted out of context'

"If I scared anybody, I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart," he said. "This has all been twisted all out of context." 

Norn's comments to other MLAs and Legislature staff were outside the scope of the sole adjudicator's report ruling that Norn breached the MLA code of conduct . 

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn. Several MLAs said in the N.W.T. Legislature Monday that Norn breached privilege by threatening to "come for" other members and legislature staff who supported what lead to a public inquiry into his breach of conduct. (Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada)

The report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly later in the day, but not in time for it to be discussed.

Norn was asked twice to stay on topic and retract comments made about the report while he was responding to his colleagues' statements.

The Northwest Territory Métis Nation (NWTMN) penned a letter to Blake over the weekend opposing the sole adjudicator's recommendation that Norn's seat be vacated, according to reporting from NNSL Media. 

Blake said that he would consider the matter and rule on whether there was a breach of privilege at a later date. 

The Legislative Assembly resumes Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

MLAs describe fear after repeated threats

 from colleague Norn

OLLIE WILLIAMS
LAST MODIFIED: NOVEMBER 22, 2021 

Led by Thebacha’s Frieda Martselos, more than half of the territory’s MLAs rose in the legislature on Monday to condemn the conduct of their colleague, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn.Steve Norn in the NWT legislature on November 22, 2021. James O'Connor/Cabin Radio

Several described in raw terms a sense of fear after hearing Norn use the phrase “I’m coming for you” in a series of threats both to MLAs and legislature staff. One, sent via Facebook Messenger on the eve of a public inquiry into his conduct, had already been documented.

One MLA said they had called RCMP over a message sent by Norn.

Norn, addressing colleagues, apologized for the things he had said and insisted they were not “meant to be a physical threat.” He said he felt he had become a victim of “gotcha culture.”

Monday’s extraordinary discussion of Norn’s conduct, which consumed the opening hour and 20 minutes of the legislature’s delayed fall sitting, was separate to the debate MLAs must also hold about the findings of that public inquiry.

The inquiry examined whether Norn broke self-isolation in April and whether he subsequently misled the public about it. Ronald Barclay, who led the inquiry, concluded Norn had done both and recommended Norn’s seat be vacated – a conclusion the MLA has disputed.

On Monday, MLAs had yet to get anywhere near Barclay’s report when Martselos rose and, as the fall sitting’s first order of business, raised a question of privilege with Speaker of the House Frederick Blake Jr.

A question of privilege is a procedural device. It can be used to query whether an MLA has infringed on the ability of other MLAs to do their jobs.

“A number of incidents have occurred that undermine the dignity, integrity, and efficient functioning of this assembly,” Martselos announced. “Each of these incidents arise from the conduct of the Member for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh.”

Martselos, a former Chief of the Salt River First Nation who represents the Fort Smith area, went on to list three occasions on which Norn had directed some variety of the phrase “I’m coming for you” at either MLAs or legislature staff. He had also, she said, “used a Latin phrase referring to cutting the neck off a snake in reference to an officer of the Legislative Assembly.”

All of Martselos’ allegations fell outside the scope of Barclay’s inquiry and report. Most MLAs who spoke on Monday were careful to make the distinction, as they cannot comment on Barclay’s report until it is formally tabled later.

“It is clear to me that the Member for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh has engaged in a pattern of threatening behaviour,” Martselos concluded, asking Blake to find that a breach of privilege had on the balance of probability occurred, the consequence for which would be decided later.

Norn, Martselos said, “has demonstrated profound disrespect for his colleagues and for the assembly as an institution of democratic governance.”
O’Reilly called RCMP over Norn

MLA after MLA subsequently rose to reiterate some of the same points, many thanking Martselos for coming forward as the first to raise the matter.

In some cases, MLAs appeared visibly angered and emotional as they spoke.

Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek fiercely denounced the “revenge” Norn had spoken of exacting upon his colleagues.

“I was present on more than one occasion when I heard language used from the Member for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh to public servants that was more than rude. It was abusive,” Wawzonek said.

“One specific, graphic metaphor was used to describe the lengths to which the MLA would go to exact his revenge.

“The MLA is telling us very clearly that any further actions or statements any one of us have to make in relation to his conduct … will be met with him coming for us.”

Lesa Semmler, the Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA, said those threats had made doing her job almost impossible at times.

Departing almost immediately from a statement she had prepared, Semmler said: “I have never felt my safety was compromised coming here until that.”

She said she feared attending meetings in Yellowknife because of the prospect of some form of retribution from Norn.

“This was going to prevent me from being able to do my job as an MLA,” Semmler said.

“As a Legislative Assembly member, this is unacceptable behaviour toward anyone. I have been unable to participate fully in committee meetings for fear I might say something wrong that might put myself or my family at risk of more of these threats.”

Kevin O’Reilly, the Frame Lake MLA, said he had called the police after receiving one of the threats also documented by Martselos.

“I made a complaint to the commanding officer of RCMP G Division the next day. He called me within minutes of the receipt of my complaint to check on my safety and that of my family,” O’Reilly said.

Referring to Norn’s previous career as a police officer, O’Reilly added: “The Member for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh lives in Yellowknife. He has been member of the RCMP. He has likely received firearms training.”

O’Reilly called both the threatening messages and a range of statements from Norn’s lawyer, Steven Cooper, at a news conference last week, a “clear attempt to intimidate me and other members.”

Cooper had told MLAs to “be afraid, be very afraid” if they chose to declare Norn’s seat vacant. O’Reilly allowed that Cooper’s words could be interpreted in a variety of manners, but felt the totality of the various messages formed an “attempt to intimidate me in my role as a member.”

Julie Green, the health minister, said of Norn’s Facebook Messenger threat: “I had to think twice about whether I was going to stand up and talk about it today or whether I was, in fact, enlarging the target on me.

“The intention of the member was to intimidate me and everyone else who received the message.”

Rocky Simpson, RJ Simpson, Caitlin Cleveland, Rylund Johnson, Diane Archie, and Premier Caroline Cochrane all rose in support of Martselos.

Johnson described Norn walking out of a meeting of all MLAs at which his conduct had been raised.

“He became visibly upset, raised his voice, and left,” said Johnson, who chairs the caucus of 19 MLAs.

“He told members he would only take further questions through his lawyer,” Johnson continued, adding that course of action “breaks down the fundamental way we try to resolve differences in this House.”
Norn regrets what he said

Norn, rising in his defence, said Martselos’ motion was “news to me” and said he had had little time to prepare a speech.

“The words that were mentioned here … were in no way, shape, or form meant to be a physical threat. If I scared anybody, I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

“This has been twisted out of context, all of it. I am a very passionate person when it comes to my work. I am fiery and militant.

“So much of what I’ve said was just taken out of context. It was never meant to intimidate anyone. People who know me personally know I would never harm anybody. I would never do that. I want to make that clear, here, today.”

Norn cited a recent Oprah Winfrey interview with the musician Adele in which Adele referred to a “gotcha culture.”

“Everything we do or say nowadays is watched, recorded, and judged to the Nth degree. I think, with me, that also is applicable,” he said.

And though he briefly suggested O’Reilly’s decision to involve RCMP meant police had been “used as a political instrument,” he went on to allow that the action could be justified.

“From listening to some of the comments I can see now why I had to be spoken to, and that is fair,” he said, claiming RCMP had accepted that his threats were “merely a political statement and not physical.”

“What I said was regrettable and I apologize for that. I wish I could take it back,” Norn said.

As he attempted to address the Barclay report’s recommendation that his seat be vacated, Norn was several times interrupted by MLAs noting the report could not yet be discussed as Blake had yet to formally table it in the House.

Norn, appearing to lose steam, eventually gave up after accusing Barclay and inquiry lawyer Maurice Laprairie of unspecified “racism.”

His apology was not enough for Archie, the infrastructure minister, who rose after Norn to state: “Intimidation of members of this assembly and our staff is not acceptable at any level.

“We cannot condone or dismiss the action of the member. To do so is to devalue the work and commitment of MLAs and the staff that work so hard to support us.”

Blake told the legislature: “I will take this matter under advisement and provide my ruling at a later date.”

Barclay’s report has still to be tabled or discussed, and MLAs are no closer to voting on the recommendation that Norn’s seat be vacated. That vote technically may not take place until February, though MLAs appeared energized on Monday to dispense with the matter at the earliest opportunity.
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