Angry in the Great White North

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla's constituency office is open, but only because a serious matter with her landlord has been resolved.  This letter was posted on her constituency office door at 270 Orenda Rd in Brampton:

Notice of Termination

To: Dr Ruby Dhalla, in capacity as Member of Parliament
270 Orenda Rd, Unit B
Brampton, Ontario
L6T 4X6

Take notice that Satgur Investments Ltd hereby terminates and forfeits the Lease date 1st day November, 2008, between Satgur Investments Ltd as Landlord, Dr Ruby Dhalla, in capacity as Member of Parliament as Tenant, by reason of contractual default in the Tenant's leasehold improvement maintenance and repair requirements.

And further take notice that Satgur Investments Ltd reserves all rights to claim all rents remaining unpaid by the Tenant pursuant to the said Lease, and the rights to claim damages as compensation for its loss of benefits during the unexpired term of the said Lease.

Dated at Brampton, this 26th day of May 2009

The Recovery Board

[signed]

Appointed Bailiff

And further take notice that any attempt by any persons whatsoever to gain unlawful entry to the leased premises without the written consent of the Landlord or its agents shall be prosecuted as a trespass.

Is this linked to the allegations levelled against her regarding the mistreatment of live-in caregivers?  I doubt it, at least not directly.  Normally you don't evicted for the first missed cheque, and the problem with the caregivers is barely three weeks old.  Whatever trouble Ruby Dhalla is having with Satgur Investments, it likely has been going on for some time.

Stay tuned...

Update:  I told you to stay tuned.  I received this email:

You are requested to please immediately correct and retract the story posted today stating Ruby Dhalla, Member of Parliament for Brampton Springdale has been evicted from her constituency office. Her constituency office continues to be located at 270 Orenda Road and continues to be open to serve and help the constituents of Brampton Springdale.

Thank you.

Office of Dr. Ruby Dhalla
Member of Parliament
Brampton-Springdale

Since I have no reason to doubt this, I'll retract the statement that Ruby Dhalla has been evicted.  Appropriate sections have been struck out.

I have asked for clarification on two issues:

• Is the letter legitimate?
• If so, is the landlord providing permission for the office to operate?

If the letter is not legitimate, then it would appear that I've been snookered by someone who has access to Ruby Dhalla's office in order to post a letter on the inside.

If so, I apologize to Ruby Dhalla, and wonder who would be interested in embarrassing both of us.  I would also like confirmation from Ruby Dhalla that there is no problems between her and the landlord.

Final Resolution:  Ruby Dhalla never responded to my requests for more information, including a clarification regarding the original notice terminating the lease.  I retracted the statement that she had been evicted, because despite the content of the letter, Dhalla insisted her office was open.

Fair enough.

I also received third-party confirmation that the letter had been posted.

Finally, I got in touch with the Bailiff, Earl Lewis.  His only statement to me was to say "The matter has been resolved.  I have no further comment".

So it seems clear that Ruby Dhalla had gotten into some sort of bind with her landlord regarding "improvement maintenance and repair requirements".  It had gotten to the point that the landlord initiated action to terminate the lease.  At the 11th hour, it seems, Ruby Dhalla sorted things out.

I doubt we'll ever know the full details of what happened.  Of course, there is the nagging suspicion that the details would be very interesting.

All in all, not a good month for Ruby Dhalla.