Re: Service Line Warranties of Canada

[Gosse Bruinsma]

Much more to the point is not only does the City receive a 5% royalty but it is also paid a fee that allows SLWC to use the City’s logo on its letterhead and on its envelopes. This is clearly misleading if not outright fraudulent. This whole thing smacks of misguided opportunism and a prostitution of the City’s name and logo that will undoubtedly dupe many city tax payers. 

Your attention to whether or not the city provided names and addresses is irrelevant and a red herring as the mail we received was directed to “The homeowner”. 

You appear to be missing the point entirely. SLWC is offering a service in a manner which is clearly misleading; a service which is likely unnecessary and unneeded but worded in a way that conveys the opposite using City of Ottawa logo etc. 

Councilor, it would behoove you to respond to this issue personally.

Gosse Bruinsma 

C. 613 866 9609

On Mar 18, 2021, at 7:06 PM, Santiago Reyes <srb...@gmail.com> wrote:



Fully concur with your views and questions, Kay. 

Precisely question 3 in my original message that remains unanswered.

Anjali, 

Receiving a proposal by a private company in an official City of Ottawa envelope raises a valid concern. Is this a normal practice?  Can any other company enter into an agreement with the City and start sending their marketing material and contract templates  in City of Ottawa envelipes?

I think SWL can use its own stationery/envelope(s) or at the very least one that doesn’t suggest the content cones from the City of Ottawa.

The good news is that one can optout from receiving any further communications from the Canadian subsidiary of an American company. 

Kind regards 

Santiago 

 

On Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 17:58 Kay Francis <kayfr...@francisplumbing.com> wrote:

Hi Anjali,

 

Thank you for your response but I do have concerns about the competitive nature of the insurance industry. By the city endorsing just one company they are creating a monopoly for this one business.  Shouldn’t any business that meets the City’s standards also be able to advertise using the City of Ottawa endorsement?  For example many local plumbing companies offer protective plumbing plans very similar to what is being offered by SLWC – why is the City of Ottawa endorsing 1 company to compete against actual local businesses (SLWC is NOT a local business)?

 

In addition – the information SLWC provided is misleading. It does not inform the homeowner to check their existing homeowner insurance policy FIRST (since many of these policies cover Sewer and water lines from the city line to the property). So homeowner in a panic are buying these protection plans when they already have it covered with their existing insurance policies.

 

This also doesn’t bode well for our senior population who are prone to believe the marketing materials they get to buy things on the “recommendation” of the City of Ottawa.

 

What recourse do these seniors have who bought this plan based on the City of Ottawa’s recommendation when they didn’t need the policy?

 

Would you mind addressing these additional questions please.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kay Francis

 

From: RideauRockcliffe Ward <rideaurock...@ottawa.ca>
Sent: March 18, 2021 5:18 PM
To: Santiago Reyes <srb...@gmail.com>; RideauRockcliffe Ward <rideaurock...@ottawa.ca>
Cc: Gosse Bruinsma <go...@bruinsma.eu.com>; Eileen Olexiuk <ole...@gmail.com>; catherine dickson <dickson....@googlemail.com>; karen <ka...@marcommetrics.com>; Linda Bryant <lindab...@sympatico.ca>; Kay Francis <kayfr...@francisplumbing.com>; Jan Goth <jgo...@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Service Line Warranties of Canada

 

Good evening Santiago,

 

I am responding on behalf of Councillor King.

 

The Service Line Warranties of Canada program was approved by Council in February 2016 to provide residents with an optional service that could help address ongoing issues. The recommendation was based on a program review that examined best practices in other large scale Ontario municipalities, which identified this as a voluntary opt-in service for residents that could help address ongoing issues related to the private portion of water and sewer services, including unpredictable failure, lack of homeowner awareness, and high cost of repair. The City partnered with SLWC to offer homeowners protection plans to help cover repair costs for water and sewer/septic service lines. SLWC is solely responsible for the administration of the program, and participation in the program is optional and voluntary.

 

SLWC is Headquartered in Canada and is a subsidiary of a U.S.-based company, similar to other contractors that the City enters into agreements with. This agreement between the City and SLWC is not directly with a U.S.-based company or entity. SLWC hires local, qualified contractors to complete the repair work - keeping dollars in the community. Under the agreement with SLWC, the City will receive a five (5) per cent royalty, which will serve to offset internal program administration costs associated with this program. This is a cost neutral arrangement for the City and its taxpayers. As such, the City will not be generating a profit from this arrangement.  SLWC ensures coordination with related City programs, including those addressing municipal trees, lead water services lines, and frozen water service lines to ensure the City is aware of any work required on public infrastructure.

The City did not sell or otherwise provide resident names or addresses to SLWC as part of this program. SLWC purchased its records through a third-party, which are accessible through public information. This program is managed by SLWC, and no public funds were used for the mailing of this letter. The City of Ottawa has not provided SLWC with your contact information. All contact information is obtained through a third-party mailing list service and not through City records. The City cannot advise residents if they are covered for private water or sewer connection line issues under their existing private insurance policy. While some insurance policies offer this as an add-on coverage, it is recommended that residents contact their insurance provider to seek confirmation and to discuss their options

 

I hope this information is useful. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

 

 

Anjali Parikh

 

Councillor’s Assistant | Adjointe au conseiller

Office of Councillor Rawlson King | Bureau de conseiller Rawlson King

City of Ottawa | Ville d’Ottawa

rideaurock...@ottawa.ca

Tel/ Tél: 613-580-2483

 

rideau-rockcliffe.ca

 

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From: Santiago Reyes <srb...@gmail.com>
Sent: March 18, 2021 1:33 PM
To: RideauRockcliffe Ward <rideaurock...@ottawa.ca>
Cc: Gosse Bruinsma <go...@bruinsma.eu.com>; Eileen Olexiuk <ole...@gmail.com>; catherine dickson <dickson....@googlemail.com>; karen <ka...@marcommetrics.com>; Linda Bryant <lindab...@sympatico.ca>; kayfr...@francisplumbing.com; Jan Goth <jgo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Service Line Warranties of Canada

 

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Dear Councillor,

 

Hope this message finds you well.

 

Like many of my New Edinburgh neighbours I received an insurance promotional package from a company called "Service Line Warranties of Canada"

 

As this package came in an official City of Ottawa envelope, I wonder if you could kindly provide clarification to the following questions:

 

1. Is this a Canadian or a US based company?

2. What sort of formal "partnership" or "agreement" is there between the City of Ottawa and the said company, and has there been any financial compensation received by the City?

3. Has the City of Ottawa engaged, endorsed or entered into a similar "partnership" or "agreement" with any local, Canadian owned companies able to provide exactly the same insurance services as SLWC?

 

Given our neighborhood's past experiences dealing with the City on the Combined Sewage Storage Tunnel, and associated transparency and accountability issues, I trust you will find the above concerns reasonable.

 

Kind regards

 

Santiago Reyes-Borda

172 River Lane

Ottawa K1M 1T1

 

'

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Santiago Reyes-Borda

[Joe Chouinard]

Hello Councillor King and Anjali,

I have a few questions stimulated by concerns voiced by residents of our community in your riding about the Service Line scheme using the City's good (but increasingly tarnished) name to promote this 'program'.

Councillor King:

1.  Can you assure us that you and your Councillor colleagues were given all appropriate background information about this program from the Mayor and senior staff before you voted on it?  Or, did you vote on it?

2.  Did City staff solicit/receive multiple proposals for review and recommend this particular program to Council?  

3.  Were any proposals from Canadian companies for the provision of similar insurance invited or considered by the City?  

4.  Or, was it a sole-source award to the US entity?

5.  Have you personally read and considered the communications addressed to you from your constituents about this program?

6. Is your staff feeding back to your constituents pre-digested email communications and other copy prepared by the City solicitors and Service Line Warranties?

Looking forward to your response.

Best,

Joe Chouinard

72 Dufferin Road

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[Joe Chouinard]

Thank you Councillor King for your prompt response to our concerns.  Much appreciated.

If the agreement with Service Line was approved by Council in 2016 (with little fanfare/communications with taxpayers), and implementation was delegated to City staff 5 years ago, but only rolled out now, you may want to enquire further about the efficiency of your City staff in implementing Council's decisions. 

Best,

Joe Chouinard

 

-----Original Message-----
From: RideauRockcliffe Ward <rideaurock...@ottawa.ca>
To: Joe Chouinard <joecho...@aol.com>; RideauRockcliffe Ward <rideaurock...@ottawa.ca>
Cc: kayfr...@francisplumbing.com <kayfr...@francisplumbing.com>; ole...@gmail.com <ole...@gmail.com>; jgo...@gmail.com <jgo...@gmail.com>; lindab...@sympatico.ca <lindab...@sympatico.ca>; pau...@magma.ca <pau...@magma.ca>; susanrod...@gmail.com <susanrod...@gmail.com>; dickson....@googlemail.com <dickson....@googlemail.com>; ka...@marcommetrics.com <ka...@marcommetrics.com>; srb...@gmail.com <srb...@gmail.com>; new-e...@googlegroups.com <new-e...@googlegroups.com>; The New Edinburgh News <newe...@hotmail.com>; go...@bruinsma.eu.com <go...@bruinsma.eu.com>
Sent: Sat, Mar 20, 2021 11:10 am
Subject: RE: Service Line Warranties of Canada

Joe: Since this agreement was approved by Council in 2016, and I was elected in 2019, I had no opportunity to provide input or comment or vote on this partnership. While I was not involved in this decision at Council, if I such a proposal had been before me for a vote, I would have rejected it.

 

Council gave City staff delegated authority in 2016 to partner with Service Line Warranties of Canada (SLWC) to offer Ottawa homeowners protection plans to help cover repair costs associated with their water and sewer/septic service lines. It took five years before the program was implemented by City staff. I sit on Environment Committee and will make inquires at the next meeting, to be held on March 30, as to whether multiple proposals were entertained and why it took so long to implement the program.  I will also inquire as to why a technical briefing was not undertaken by City staff to help inform the public through the media about the imminent roll-out of the program.

 

I have talked with Council colleagues about this issue and its has been raised with the Mayor.  I understand the next subsequent mailer to residents has been cancelled. I share your concerns about the use of the City of Ottawa wordmark being used to introduce an external service and that the solicitation has the appearance of a bill and will also raise these questions at Committee.

 

Kay: SLWC’s cancellation policy notes that a homeowner who accepts coverage can cancel within 30 days of the start of their policy for a full refund.  Cancellations after the first 30 days will be effective at the end of the then-current billing month, and the homeowner will be entitled to a pro-rated refund, less any claims paid.  Homeowners can also cancel the coverage if they find their utility provides similar coverage at no charge.

 

In terms of correspondence, I do try to read every piece of electronic mail that we receive, but since my office receives hundreds of inquiries collectively on a daily basis, my office staff is tasked to respond and will consult with City staff to be accurate in their responses.

 

Regards,

 

Rawlson King

Conseiller, Quartier 13, Rideau-Rockcliffe

Councillor, Ward 13, Rideau-Rockcliffe

110 Laurier Avenue West | 110 avenue Laurier ouest

City of Ottawa | Ville d'Ottawa

613-580-2483

http://www.rideau-rockcliffe.ca

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