Scarborough councillor raised $150,000 over spending limit in Toronto election (

Thestar.com
May 10, 2019
David Nickle

Councillor Jim Karygiannis raised over $217,000 to win his seat last year -- exceeding his campaign spending limit in the 2018 municipal election by more than $150,000 and pulling far ahead of his elected colleagues on Toronto council.

Karygiannis’ total fundraising haul of $217,669.44 was revealed in election finance filings made public recently by Toronto’s elections office.

When asked about the unusually large amount of money he raised, Councillor Jim Karygiannis said, “People donated to my campaign, and I’m very thankful.”

The amount is notably high -- over $100,000 more than the nearest winning councillor in Toronto’s 2018 municipal election, and $75,000 more than his opponent, former deputy mayor Norm Kelly, who raised $123,510.

“People donated to my campaign, and I’m very thankful,” said Karygiannis (Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt), when asked about the unusually large amount of money he raised. “We had two fundraising events, people were encouraged to fund-raise, people went to the website, people sent us cheques, and I’m very grateful to them.”

Kelly and Karygiannis were forced to face off in the northwest Scarborough ward when the two wards they had represented disappeared after the provincial government cut the size of Toronto council from 47 to just 25 in July of 2018.

They were not alone in this: 10 other Toronto wards saw incumbents paired off in fierce competition to represent the new, larger wards.

But few in those races raised anywhere close to what either Karygiannis or Kelly raised. Some, like Michael Ford in Ward 1 (Etobicoke North) or Anthony Perruzza in Ward 7 (Humber River--Black Creek), raised over $90,000, and Josh Matlow, in a battle with veteran councillor Joe Mihevc for Ward 12 (Toronto--St. Paul’s), raised just over $110,000. But others raised far less. Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre) Councillor Stephen Holyday raised just $29,219.21.

Under provincial rules, Karygiannis and Kelly were only able to spend $61,207.95 on the actual election campaign, but were able to spend a limited amount of money on post-election expenses. Any surplus beyond that must be returned to the city.

Listed among those expenses -- which include the cost of wrapping up the campaign’s finances and a small thank-you celebration -- was $81,000 in “honoraria,” paid out to 21 individuals.

Karygiannis did not submit receipts or invoices for those honoraria with his documentation, but only a list of names and dates, running from Dec. 1, 2018, to Jan. 29, 2019. Honoraria ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 to one individual.

“The honoraria were given to people that helped us transition from the 44 wards to the 25 wards -- people picking up signs, cleaning up signs, doing the data ... fixing the database that was there. It was a database that was all over the map,” said Karygiannis. “We followed the rules. I asked about the rules, and we followed the rules.”

Ward 10 (Spadina--Fort York) Councillor Joe Cressy said that while he raised more than the spending limit -- $91,209 -- there came a point where his campaign started turning donors away.

“When we realized we were over the limit, we started telling donors not to give money and we returned the surplus to the city,” he said. “I don’t know why anyone would need to spend that kind of money after the election.”

Cressy said that while there were post-election expenses involved in closing out his campaign, they were minor.

“There might have been a thank-you letter that went out, and we paid for the audit to be done,” he said. “But unless you’re buying iPads for every single volunteer, I’m not sure what you’re spending the money on.”

Karygiannis noted that he returned $27,000 to the city’s election office when all his expenses were accounted for.

Adam Chaleff, a former activist who during former Mayor Rob Ford’s tenure worked on a range of campaign audit requests through Fair Elections Toronto, said the honoraria seemed unusual.

“It is highly abnormal to see payments of that nature,” he said. “Generally, people spend much less money after people finish voting than before they vote. In this case, the candidate spent on honoraria alone almost double what he spent during the campaign that was subject to the limit. It begs the question -- what could these people possible have been doing that was so valuable after the vote?”

In a brief interview, Norm Kelly would not comment on Karygiannis’ fundraising efforts but did acknowledge Karygiannis, who had prior to 2014 served as the Liberal MPP for the riding (and now the ward), was a formidable opponent.

“I knew that absolutely, right from the beginning,” said Kelly. “One of the cardinal rules of running an election is not underestimating an opponent.”