Toronto council has voted to defy a district court order and pay $140,000 in court costs for Giorgio Mammoliti and Adrian Heaps that they incurred defending against compliance audits for the 2006 election.
Councillors made the move late Wednesday, Aug. 25, just weeks after a District Court judge struck down as illegal a bylaw that council approved to simply write a cheque to the two councillors - both of whom incurred significant expenses after their campaign expenses were subject to compliance audits.Both councillors were able to fundraise to pay for the initial audits - but when the complainants took the matter to court, they were on the hook individually.Councillors had decided to simply reimburse their colleagues' expenses, but Etobicoke Centre Councillor Doug Holyday challenged the decision in court, and earlier this summer, he won and the bylaw was struck down.Holyday maintains that should be the end of it - but the city re-crafted the grants to fit in with criteria that the decision said would be necessary to make the grant.To be lawful, the court said, the grants would have to advance a particular municipal interest. And this time, that's what council approved.Holyday was disgusted that council made the decision."They've decided they're going to try another angle here. The sense of entitlement is mind boggling. They've been told in no uncertain terms by the courts that this is wrong. The court voided their bylaw," he said. "So it was illegal and improper and now they've decided they're going to try a side door here."Mayor David Miller said council was within its rights to approve the new grants, because this time the rewording follows the court's instructions and described the municipal good: the grants protect councillors of limited means from potentially crippling legal bills."The court clearly said one of the problems is that council didn't articulate the public purpose," said Miller. "Well the purpose is to protect people who aren't rich but want to run for office. If you're an MPP your party protects you, if you're an MP your party protects you. If you run for council, no one protects you. Unless you're really rich, you can't afford to run for public office."Council also voted to ask the province to amend elections legislation to allow candidates to fundraise to pay their legal bills in compliance audits - something they currently cannot do.The grant will cover compliance audit expenses for Scarborough Southwest Councillor Adrian Heaps and York West Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti.