September 28, 1993 London Free Press coverage of Elieff's Board of Inquiry hearings represented a turning point in the paper's coverage of the issue. The paper's coverage of final arguments was unbiased and relatively objective.
A list of grievances against the owner of the apartments are cited.
By ERIC BENDER
The London Free Press
A "strong remedy" for discrimination against a tenant should be applied to London Cheyenne Avenue apartment owner Elijah Elieff because he began reprisals after an Ontario Human Rights Commission board of inquiry began last November, counsel for the commission said Monday.
Elieff, now owner in name only after defaulting on the mortgage on the two buildings at 95 and 105 Cheyenne Ave., embarked on harassment after he found himself before the commission on a complaint by Cambodian immigrant Chippheng Hom, Geraldine Sanson told hearing adjudicator Ajit John. Sanson, in her summation, said Elieff:
Sanson and her assistant Kim Inksater argued that Hom was a victim of double discrimination because of race and sex. They said Elieff's public remarks sparking the human rights charges that his Asian tenants were like "little pigs" and that they liked the cockroaches that infested his apartments, applied to her race. She was a subject of gender discrimination, counsel contended, when Hom had requested a move into a bigger apartment and Elieff asked if she was "a good girl or a bad girl." The questioning of her daughter was another instance, Inksater said.
Inksater said because Elieff's comments were made public the "environment" of the Asian community at the Cheyenne buildings was "poisoned." She said Elieff did not do maintenance at the apartments even when faced by health or building inspection orders and fines because he believes the Asian tenants like living amid cockroaches, garbage and units in disrepair. Thus, he was guilty of unequal treatment of the Asians, treatment he would not have accorded white or Canadian-born people, she said.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS: All the labels Elieff assigned to the Cambodians have negative psychological and physical effects on the victims, Inksater said as she quoted authorities. The remarks harm the southeast Asian community and the larger community of London, she said.
Sanson suggested Elieff either "directly or indirectly invited" the Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants to his buildings because they don't know English or the law well, were unlikely to complain to authorities about conditions and he would not have to spend much on upkeep.
Sanson said Elieff was untruthful in his testimony before the board and demonstrated he has no respect for authority by ignoring court orders. Continually, she said, Elieff has blamed the victim for his woes.
Today, at the conclusion of the hearing, Robert Metz, leader of the Freedom Party of Ontario, who is voluntarily representing Elieff, is scheduled to present his arguments.
Metz said he will contend Elieff has been "victimized by a well-orchestrated lobby effort to gain control" of the apartments. He said he would argue that the Human Rights Commission and Board of Inquiry are advancing racist agendas and they "harbor a prejudiced view of the minority groups they purport to support."
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last updated on April 28, 2002
