city of TORONTO integrity commissioner, JANET LEIPER
Citation: Ford (Re), 2012 ONMIC 7 Date: January 30, 2012
REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH COUNCIL DECISION CC 52.1
Notice: Municipal Integrity Commissioners provide investigation reports to their respective municipal council and, in most cases, make recommendations for imposition of penalty or other remedial action to the municipal Council. Therefore, reference should be made to the minutes of each particular municipal council to obtain information about the particular council's consideration of each report. When possible, a link to the relevant municipal council minutes is provided.
Please find below the link to the corresponding council decision. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.CC16.6
Appendix 1 can be found at this link:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2010.CC52.1
Appendix 2 can be found at this this link:
https://www.minicounsel.ca/mico/2010/2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY.. 3
RECOMMENDATIONS.. 3
FINANCIAL IMPACT. 4
DECISION HISTORY.. 4
ISSUE BACKGROUND.. 4
CONTACT. 5
SIGNATURE.. 6
ATTACHMENTS.. 6
SUMMARY
On August 27, 2010, City Council found that Councillor Rob Ford had violated Articles IV, VI, and VIII of the Code of Conduct for Members of Council (the "Code of Conduct") by improperly soliciting donations from lobbyists, improperly using his influence to obtain donations and for improperly using City property and services to obtain donations to a charity he had set up in his name.
City Council applied Article XVIII of the Code of Conduct and required that Councillor Rob Ford reimburse the lobbyist and corporate donors from whom he had improperly obtained donations and provide confirmation of the reimbursement to the Integrity Commissioner.
Between August 31, 2010 and October 4, 2011, six requests were sent to Councillor (now Mayor) Rob Ford asking for confirmation that Council's order had been carried out. Also, on July 13, 14 and 15, 2011 the Integrity Commissioner's annual report to Council referred the outstanding matter to Council's attention. There was no confirmation provided in response.
On October 24, 2011, Mayor Ford wrote to this office and revealed that he had corresponded with the donors, and attached letters from three of the donors who had written in response to him to say that they did not wish to receive reimbursement for their donations.
On October 28, 2011, I wrote to Mayor Ford to confirm his obligation to obey Council's decision. I advised Mayor Ford that asking lobbyist-donors for the additional favour of forgiving repayment could amount to a breach of the Lobbyist Code of Conduct. The Lobbyist Registrar was copied on this correspondence so that the lobbyists in question could receive advice about their obligations. The lobbyist donors were advised by the Lobbyist Registrar that they could not lobby Mayor Ford until he reimburses their donations. The Mayor was advised that the matter of his outstanding compliance would be brought to Council for direction.
Mayor Ford has not responded to the correspondence of October 28, 2011.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Integrity Commissioner recommends that:
City Council adopt a recommendation that Mayor Ford provide proof of reimbursement as required by Council decision CC 52.1 to the Integrity Commissioner on or before March 6, 2012, and
City Council adopt the recommendation that if proof of reimbursement has not been made by March 6, 2012, that the Integrity Commissioner report back to Council.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This report will have no financial impact on the City of Toronto.
DECISION HISTORY
In 2010, a member of the public filed a complaint pursuant to the Code of Conduct Complaint Protocol for Members of Council (the "Complaint Protocol") and section 160 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 that Councillor Rob Ford violated the Code of Conduct.
An investigation was conducted into the complaint. At the conclusion of the investigation, a report was brought to Council in accordance with the Complaint Protocol and section 162(3) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 that Councillor Ford had violated the Code of Conduct.
Council adopted the following recommendations:
Councillor Rob Ford violated Articles IV, VI and VIII of the Code of Conduct;
Councillor Ford will reimburse the lobbyist and corporate donors in the amounts listed in the attachment to the report (August 12, 2010) from the Integrity Commissioner and provide confirmation of such reimbursement to the Integrity Commissioner.
Since that time, Mayor Ford has not provided proof of compliance with Council's decision. Six follow-up requests for this information were sent to Mayor Ford's office and the issue was flagged in the Integrity Commissioner annual report received by Council on July 12, 13 and 14, 2011.
ISSUE BACKGROUND
On August 27, 2010 Council adopted a report from the Integrity Commissioner which concluded that Councillor Rob Ford had breached Articles IV, VI and VIII of the Code of Conduct by soliciting donations to his private named foundation, including from lobbyists and corporate donors, using City funds.
The findings of that report can be summarized as follows:
Code of Conduct Article IV (Gifts and Benefits): City Council found Councillor Rob Ford breached the provisions of Article IV by soliciting and receiving donations from lobbyists, clients of lobbyists and a corporation engaged in bidding on competitive contracts from the City of Toronto. In some cases, donations were made within several months before or after lobbying activity took place with Councillor Rob Ford.
Code of Conduct Article VI (Use of City Property, Services and Other Resources): The investigation revealed that Councillor Rob Ford and his staff had worked on Rob Ford Football Foundation business using City resources. The Rob Ford Football Foundation is not a City of Toronto-sponsored initiative. City Council found that Mayor Ford improperly used City resources contrary to Article VI.
Code of Conduct Article VIII (Improper Use of Influence): Where a Councillor asks for donations to a private cause in his official capacity, this is an improper use of influence of office. City Council found that Councillor Rob Ford had improperly used his influence to seek and receive the donations, contrary to Article VIII.
On August 25, 26 and 27, 2010, Council ordered the repayment of the donations made by the lobbyist and corporate donors as attached to the Integrity Commissioner's Report to Council (attached as Appendix 2), and required that Councillor Rob Ford provide proof of his compliance to the Integrity Commissioner. This was not done. In July of 2011, the Mayor wrote to the lobbyist donors, which prompted some of them to write back to him, declining reimbursement. This was revealed by the Mayor on October 24, 2011. The Mayor was advised that Council's order stands and that his actions could lead the lobbyists to be in further breach of the Lobbyist Code of Conduct. I advised the Lobbyist Registrar of the matter to ensure that the lobbyists received advice on their obligations, and informed the Mayor of this step.
The Lobbyist Registrar confirmed that lobbyist donors must not lobby the Mayor until he has reimbursed their donations. Some lobbyist donors requested the Mayor to reimburse their donations. Some lobbyist donors expressed concern to the Lobbyist Registrar that if the Mayor does not reimburse them, their ability to communicate with a key public office holder would be indefinitely restricted.
The integrity of City Council depends on elected officials to respect its decisions. Toronto City Council has established an ethics regime which includes a Code of Conduct that recognizes the public deserves "the highest standards of conduct from the members it elects to local government." (Preamble, Code of Conduct). If elected officials do not follow Council's decisions this could weaken public trust in the integrity of local government and set a poor example for others.
City Council made a decision 18 months ago; I recommend that Council fix a deadline of March 6, 2012 for compliance with CC 52.1.
CONTACT
Janet Leiper, Integrity Commissioner
Phone: 416-397-7770; Fax: 416-696-3615
Email: jleiper@toronto.ca
SIGNATURE
Janet Leiper
Integrity Commissioner
ATTACHMENTS
Appendix 1: CC52.1 - Decision of City Council, dated August 25, 26 and 27, 2010 Appendix 2: Integrity Commissioner Report to Council dated August 12, 2010