4 councillors accused of campaign misspending
Posted July 18, 2011 4:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Allegations of campaign misspending levelled against four city councillors will be considered in a meeting of the city’s compliance audit committee Wednesday.
Fair Elections Toronto, run by activist Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, filed formal complaints against Doug Ford, Giorgio Mammoliti, James Pasternak and Michael Thompson. Read the complaints here.
The allegations will be up for debate during a meeting Wednesday morning, which is open to the public.
In the complaints, the councillors are accused of breaking the Municipal Elections Act by exceeding their $33,112.05 spending limit by misrepresenting some costs as fundraising expenses.
Chaleff-Freudenthaler also filed a similar complaint against Mayor Rob Ford. The compliance audit committee decided in May to move forward and put the mayor’s campaign spending under the microscope. The mayor is currently fighting the decision in court.
Chaleff-Freudenthaler has also filed a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner. He claims he was the target of some threatening behaviour from Doug Ford last Wednesday.
“[Coun. Ford told] me that I needed to be prepared for something that wasn’t actually described but I, as well as others watching, construed as a threat against me,” Chaleff-Freudenthaler said in his official complaint.
The councillor then told him “what goes around, comes around,” according to the complaint.
“Following those words, I asked Councillor Ford if he was threatening me. He then nervously turned around and walked away,” Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote.
A representative for Coun. Ford told CityNews.ca he’s not offering a comment on the matters.
Chaleff-Freudenthaler refused to comment and referred CityNews.ca to his official complaint.
