Richmond Hill councillor’s appeal of election expenses audit postponed
Courthouse scheduling error means new date to be set for Beros’ appeal

YorkRegion.com
June 3, 2016
Kim Zarzour

Richmond Hill Councillor Greg Beros’ appeal of his 2014 election expenses audit has been put off for another court date.

The hearing that was set for this morning at Newmarket’s Ontario Court of Justice is being re-booked after a scheduling error left too little time to hear the case.

The Joint Compliance Audit Committee ruled last July that Beros’ campaign finances should be investigated.

The three-person committee, shared by all municipalities in York Region except Markham, voted unanimously to go ahead with the investigation, ruling that he may have breached the Municipal Act when he used public funds to mail a flyer during a time period when candidates were forbidden to do so.

The Ward 1 councillor is asking a judge to determine whether the decision of the audit committee is valid and has filed notice of appeal via Bay Street legal firm Aird & Berlis.

The matter was set to be heard at 9:30 a.m. today, but after a brief discussion with the judge, lawyers for both sides agreed to reschedule.

Beros did not appear in court this morning, but his legal representative, Courtney Raphael, with Aird & Berlis, said she had booked a courtroom for “at least a half day,” but an error in scheduling placed the matter in a long line-up of court hearings set for the day.

The issue will require at least two hours to be heard, said Barnet Kussner, a partner with WeirFoulds, representing the Town of Richmond Hill.

The audit focuses on a controversial mailout that some residents argue was campaign literature — but the Oak Ridges councillor called a newsletter.

The flyer, sent to almost 12,000 addresses in Ward 1, was billed to the town. Town policy provided for a “blackout period” beginning Sept. 11, 2014, after which candidates are not permitted to use town resources to send out newsletters to their constituents.

However, documents presented at the audit hearing showed Beros delivered the piece of literature to Canada Post after that cut-off date.

Beros is the first Richmond Hill politician to have campaign expenses brought before the Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

A new date has now been set for July 28 to hear the matter in Newmarket court.