Ontario Liberals accuse Holyday of misusing city resources
Posted July 25, 2013 12:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Ontario Liberals are accusing PC candidate Doug Holyday of misusing Toronto city resources after he posed next to a city-contracted garbage truck during a campaign stop, an allegation Holyday’s team called “silly.”
Holyday, the deputy mayor, is running against Coun. Peter Milczyn, a member of Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee, in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding. Both men have taken a leave of absence from city hall to prepare for the Aug. 1 provincial byelection.
Holyday and PC Leader Tim Hudak stood next to the truck, which bears a City of Toronto logo, on Wednesday. The garbage truck has significance for Holyday, who, as the former mayor of Etobicoke, privatized garbage collection in that ward. Toronto expanded its private garbage pickup in the west end in 2012.
“For someone who claims to have respect for the office he is elected to, it surprises me that Holyday would leverage his position as Deputy Mayor to Rob Ford for partisan purposes,” Milcyzn said in a statement.
“I have asked both the Integrity Commissioner and the Lobbyist Registrar to look into the various potential violations.”
A spokesperson for the Holyday campaign called the accusation “silly.”
“It’s a silly accusation. The truck was contracted out and there were no city services that were taken off line,” Christine Bujold told CityNews.ca.
The Etobicoke-Lakeshore seat become vacant when former education minister Laurel Broten stepped down last month.
