Integrity commissioner’s probe of John Tory’s ties to Rogers runs out of time

Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty said there isn’t enough time to complete his investigation before the Aug. 19 deadline.

Thestar.com
Aug. 18, 2022
Ben Spurr

Toronto voters won’t know the outcome of a conflict of interest complaint against Mayor John Tory before they go to the polls this fall.

According to a letter issued to the complainant in the case, city Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty has determined there’s not enough time to complete his investigation into the matter, which centres on a council debate about the ActiveTO road closure program and the mayor’s ties to the Rogers corporation, before a provincially mandated deadline Friday.

In the letter to Adam Chaleff, Batty said he launched his probe immediately after receiving Chaleff’s July 22 application, and since then has “diligently collected documents and interviewed witnesses.”

“However, in the interest of being fair and diligent, it is simply not feasible to collect all the necessary evidence, complete the required analysis, formulate my findings and report to the parties” by Friday, Aug. 19, Batty wrote.

Friday is the last day candidates can register for the Oct. 24 municipal election, and the date by which the City of Toronto Act dictates all integrity investigations must terminate. However, the provincial legislation says an investigation can be restarted after the election at the request of either of the parties involved.

Noting that Chaleff’s application stemmed from Tory’s participation in a council vote on June 15, Batty said in his letter it was “unfortunate” the commissioner’s office didn’t receive the complaint until more than five weeks after the fact. He said the timing left him just 18 working days to finish his probe.

Tory, who is seeking a third term in office against a field of 17 lesser-known candidates in the October race, has denied he engaged in a conflict of interest.

“The mayor has fully cooperated with the integrity commissioner’s review, and is highly confident he has complied with the law and acted appropriately and in good faith on this issue,” Tory’s spokesperson Lawvin Hadisi said in an email.

She suggested Chaleff’s complaint had been purposefully calibrated to damage the mayor’s election chances, describing its timing as “revealing.”

In a statement to the Star, Chaleff rejected that characterization as an attempt to “impugn my motives” that was “beneath the mayor’s high office.”

He said he planned to ask the commissioner to relaunch the probe after election day.

“Though I am disappointed that voters will not know the outcome of this investigation before they cast their ballots, I appreciate the integrity commissioner’s effort to conduct a full, fair and expeditious inquiry into Mayor Tory’s apparent conflict of interest,” he said.

John Mascarin, a partner at the Aird Berlis law firm who specializes in municipal law, said provincial legislators set a deadline for wrapping up integrity investigations because they “didn’t want politically motivated complaints coming in right at the last minute” to smear candidates.

He said while some observers might read a political motive into Chaleff taking until weeks before the deadline to file his application, under the province’s complaints-driven system it’s normal for members of the public to require time to assess whether there are grounds for a complaint.

The legislation allows residents to lodge an application up to six weeks after learning of a potential violation, a timeline Chaleff met.

“I’m not really going to fault him there,” Mascarin said on the application timing.

Chaleff’s complaint alleged that Tory had an indirect pecuniary interest in the June city council debate about ActiveTO.

Before the council meeting, Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro issued a public letter urging the mayor to vote against extending street closures on Lake Shore Boulevard West for ActiveTO, arguing they made it harder for fans to get to and from games at the Rogers Centre. Tory publicly defended Shapiro, and at the June meeting voted in favour of a version of ActiveTO that doesn’t include regular closures on Lake Shore West.

Tory sits on the advisory committee of the Rogers family trust, which controls Rogers Communications Inc., the telecom company that owns the Jays. Tory receives $100,000 a year for his role on the committee.

The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act prohibits council members who have a direct or indirect financial interest in an item before council from voting on it or attempting to influence the outcome of the vote.

Tory’s office says ActiveTO is a traffic issue that affects hundreds of thousands of Torontonians, and the mayor has no personal interest in it.