Toronto's integrity commissioner drops conflict-of-interest investigation into Mayor John Tory
CBC
The City of Toronto's integrity commissioner is dropping his investigation into whether Mayor John Tory broke municipal conflict-of-interest rules when he voted to scale back the popular ActiveTO program in June.
The move comes almost a month after a local activist asked Jonathan Batty to launch the investigation due to Tory's ties with Rogers Communications Inc.
Batty advised complainant Adam Chaleff Wednesday that he didn't have enough time to complete his probe before an upcoming deadline this Friday — the last day candidates can register to run in the 2022 municipal election in October, and also the day on which all integrity commissioner inquiries must end.
"It is simply not feasible to collect all the necessary evidence, complete the required analysis, formulate my findings and report to the parties before August 19, 2022," wrote Batty in a letter to Chaleff obtained by CBC Toronto.
"It is unfortunate that I received this application more than five weeks after the events in question."
Chaleff's complaint, filed on July 22, stems from a written request this summer from Toronto Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro to stop the ActiveTO traffic closures on Lake Shore Boulevard. He complained they were making it more difficult for fans to get to games.
Rogers.owns the Blue Jays. Tory is a Rogers shareholder and an adviser to the Rogers Control Trust — a paid role.
Tory chose to vote in favour of rolling back the closures in mid-June, which scaled back the program — instead of recusing himself due to his connections with the telecommunications giant.
The act prohibits councillors from participating in matters where they have either a direct or indirect financial interest. Councillors are barred from using their influence on decisions where there is a direct or indirect conflict.
Batty says while he's spent the past three weeks collecting evidence and conducting interviews, he has "made no determination one way or the other" whether or not Tory breached the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Tory's office has previously denied the allegations.
Batty says if requested by Tory or Chaleff within six weeks after voting day on Oct. 24, he can resume his investigation.
Chaleff, in a statement to CBC Toronto, says he'll ask Batty to continue the probe.
"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," Chaleff wrote.
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