9th grader locked out of MPP's office amid student sit-ins

When Caleb Smolenaars visited Progressive Conservative MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos's office Wednesday, he was met with a locked door and a sign.

"Thank you for visiting," it read, taped to the door of the Oakville North—Burlington MPP's office. "To serve you better, we ask that you please phone our office to make an appointment for another day.

"Please note — in order to preserve constituent confidentiality sit-ins are not permitted in this office."

It was a visit scheduled as part of 100 sit-ins scheduled to take place across Ontario Wednesday by Students Say No, a group that organized a province-wide student walk out back in April.

"The way I was treated by my own government representative was an awful experience," Smolenaars told CBC News in a message.

Triantafilopoulos, however, says the student is mischaracterising how he was treated and that Smolenaars has "created a scenario" that is "not factually correct."

The 15-year-old student from Nelson High School says he went to the office with two other students.

The people of Ontario shouldn't be locked out of their MPP's office because they disagree with a decision or want to exercise their right to peaceful assembly.- Caleb Smolenaars

"I looked through the window and could see a receptionist was present so I knocked on the door," he said. "About two minutes later, the receptionist opened the door a crack and offered to take my letter but would not let me in.

"The staff of Effie Triantafilopoulos acted as if we were a mob of angry people that were going to destroy her, which we weren't. We were a couple of concerned citizens asking to be taken into consideration by the government."

In an interview Thursday, Triantafilopoulos told CBC News that her assistant answered the door immediately, and that Smolenaars was with a lone adult, and not other students.

She also suggested Smolenaars's version of events may have been steered by his father, Robert Smolenaars, who is the president of the Halton chapter of the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario union.

"It's a bit disappointing to hear he felt he wasn't met with the kind of response he wanted," she said. "From the moment we received Caleb's communication, we made it abundantly clear that we were open to meeting him and hearing his concerns."

A backlog of requests

Smolenaars says he sent an email to Triantafilopoulos's office ahead of time, letting them know that a small group of students would be holding a sit-in at the office.

"In a reply, we were informed that she would be at Queens Park, which was expected by us," he said. "Our goal was to take up space in the office and let the people that work for her know that we were serious about these issues and wanted to be fairly represented.

"The people of Ontario shouldn't be locked out of their MPP's office because they disagree with a decision or want to exercise their right to peaceful assembly."

Triantafilopoulos said staffers were in touch with Smolenaars via email, and told him she would be "very interested to hear from him or his group" — but that she is only at her constituency office on Fridays.

Triantafilopoulos said she has a a backlog of meeting requests, and is currently scheduling meetings for next month. 

Differing experiences

Smolenaars says students from the organization at other MPP's offices were met with similar signs to the one he saw. This comes just days after staffers at the office of Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff called police on a group of seniors who were holding a "read-in" to protest cuts to library funding.

Triantafilopoulos told CBC News the sign was taped to the door after consultation with the management of the building where her office is located, as it also houses medical offices. She said the message may have been similar to signs at other MPP's offices because her office "consults with the legislature" on how to handle disruptions.

Smolenaars said as the group was leaving, a staffer for Liberal MP Pam Damoff opened the door to her office, which was just down the hall, and invited the students inside to talk about the issues they were bringing forward.

"Overall, I had a wonderful experience with the staff of Pam Damoff and a terrible experience with the staff of Effie Triantafilopoulos, who literally hid behind a locked door."

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