City council candidate charged with sexual assault, but what does that mean for voters?

Michael Thompson is “asserting his innocence” and intends to plead not guilty, but that leaves his constituents grappling with the legal implications as the municipal election looms. Here’s what you need to know before you cast your ballot.

Thestar.com
Oct. 4, 2022
Ben Spurr

Toronto City Hall was rocked last week by news that veteran council member Michael Thompson is facing criminal charges.

On Thursday the Ontario Provincial Police charged Thompson, 62, with two counts of sexual assault, which the force said relate to alleged incidents at a private residence in Muskoka, and which a lawyer representing Thompson last week said took place in July.

The attorney said Thompson is “asserting his innocence” and intends to plead not guilty. The allegations haven’t been tested in court.

The charges against Thompson, who represents Ward 21 Scarborough Centre and has been a close ally of Mayor John Tory, came less than four weeks before the Oct. 24 election. In addition to the serious implications for the alleged victims and others involved, the case could shake up Toronto’s democratic process.

Here are some pressing questions about what the charges against Thompson mean for the upcoming election.

Is Thompson still a city councillor?

While Mayor Tory announced last week that Thompson had agreed to resign as chair of council’s economic and community development committee and give up the title of deputy mayor, as of Monday evening Thompson hadn’t stepped down as councillor.

City staff confirmed Monday that criminal charges don’t disqualify someone from running for council, or from holding office.

Is Thompson still running for re-election?

As of Monday evening, Thompson had yet to make any announcement about the status of his campaign. He didn’t return the Star’s requests for comment, and no one answered the phone at his campaign office.

However, even if he declared he’s not running, the deadline to officially withdraw from the council race was 2 p.m. on Aug. 19.

“There are no provisions in the Municipal Elections Act to enable a candidate to withdraw from the election after this date,” the city said in a statement.

That means Thompson’s name will remain on the ballot no matter what.

Thompson has won five straight council elections dating back to 2003, including a landslide victory in 2018 in which he took 69 per cent of the vote. There are no high profile challengers running against him this time around.

If a person is convicted of a crime, can they still serve on council?

John Mascarin, a partner at Aird and Berlis and an expert in municipal law, said that even a criminal conviction wouldn’t necessarily result in a councillor losing their seat.

Provincial legislation that governs municipal elections states that, with some exceptions, anyone who is eligible to vote Toronto’s council race is qualified to hold the office. A person can lose the right to vote if they are “serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution,” according to the Municipal Elections Act.

Mascarin said the wording of the law means “a conviction itself doesn’t disqualify someone” from staying on as councillor. They would only be disqualified if they were serving a prison term.

Thompson’s next court date is at the courthouse in Bracebridge on Nov. 1, eight days after the election. It’s unknown how long it will take for the case to be resolved or what the outcome will be.

Why is someone who is facing criminal allegations still eligible to sit on council?

David Boghosian, a managing partner at Boghosian and Allen LLP, said the eligibility rules reflect the “fundamental tenet of our criminal justice system that you are presumed to be innocent unless you’re proven guilty.”

He said that if a candidate has been charged with a crime but not convicted or sentenced, whether they serve on council should be “a matter for the ballot box.”

Barbara MacQuarrie, community director for the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children at Western University, agreed that the presumption of innocence needs to be maintained, and she said she couldn’t make any judgment on the allegations against Thompson.

But speaking generally, she argued that in cases of alleged sexual violence, using criminal convictions as the standard for disqualifying elected officials represents a “mismatch of accountability mechanisms.”

Convictions for sexual crimes in the Canadian justice system are “very, very rare,” and failure to secure one isn’t proof misconduct didn’t occur, she said.

“My hope would be that someone who is facing credible allegations would have the decency to stand down,” MacQuerrie said.

She argued that it’s harmful to public trust in democratic institutions for an elected representative “to have such a big shadow hanging over them.”

Can councillors kick someone off council for alleged misconduct?

The Code of Conduct for Toronto city council states that members should uphold “the letter and the spirit” of provincial and federal laws, and conduct their private lives in a manner that “will bear close public scrutiny.”

If the city integrity commissioner determines a council member has violated the Code, they can recommend council vote to reprimand the offender, suspend their pay for up to 90 days, or take a handful of other actions.

But according to city staff, “there is no statutory provision that allows city council to remove a member.”