Mayor Of Toronto Found Guilty Of Conflict....
lukin2006
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... -run-again
Mayor Rob Ford guilty, kicked from office but can run again
Mayor Rob Ford has been found guilty of conflict of interest and will be removed from office.
But Justice Charles Hackland has granted Ford a 14-day stay and he will be allowed to run again.
It is assumed Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday will take over Ford’s duties.
Hackland found the mayor in violation of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. He had the option of banning Ford from running for up to seven years.
The hotly awaited decision follows a two-day hearing in early September that saw Ford grilled over his conduct at a Feb. 7 council meeting and the events that led up to it.
The city’s integrity commissioner ruled in 2010 that then-councillor Ford was wrong to use official letterhead and other city resources to solicit donations from people lobbying him for his namesake football foundation.
Council agreed and ordered Ford to repay $3,150 to lobbyists, their clients and one private firm. Ford ignored six reminders from the integrity commissioner before she brought the issue back to council Feb. 7.
There, Ford made an impassioned speech about why he shouldn’t be forced to repay the money, arguing it was spent distributing football equipment to schools. He voted with the 22-12 majority to cancel the order that he repay.
In March, Toronto resident Paul Magder alleged Ford broke a provision in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act which states elected officials can’t speak to, or vote upon, items in which they have a “pecuniary interest.”
At the hearing before Hackland, Magder’s lawyer Clayton Ruby argued Ford was “reckless” and “wilfully ignorant” of the law when he did not recuse himself from the debate and vote.
Ford, who was on council for a decade before becoming mayor in late 2010, testified he never read the Conflict of Interest Act or the councillor orientation handbook. Nor did he attend councillor training sessions that covered conflicts of interest.
The mayor promised in his oath of office to “disclose conflicts of interest” but, when asked by Ruby if he understood the words, Ford said: “No. My interpretation of a conflict of interest, again, is it takes two parties and the city must benefit or a member of council must benefit.”
Ruby accused Ford of “wilful blindness.”
“As mayor he ought to have had a clear understanding of his obligations. This entire pattern of conduct shows that he chose to remain ignorant, and substituted his own view for that of the law,” Ruby said.
Ford, longtime coach of Etobicoke’s Don Bosco Eagles, vehemently disagreed, saying he acted only in the best interests of high school students.
Ford’s lawyer, Alan Lenczner, offered a three-pronged defence.
He said council had no legislative authority to make Ford repay $3,150 in football charity donations in the first place.
Second, that if council did impose a penalty it was under Toronto’s code of conduct, not the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, so Ford could not have breached the act. If the Act applied, elected officials could not defend themselves when criticized by the integrity commissioner, he added.
Finally, that if Ford did err by not declaring a conflict, it was an inadvertent “error in judgment.”
“He may (have been) wrong (to vote),” Lenczner said. “And the case may allow for that, because that’s what an error of judgment is. You’re wrong, but that’s an excuse under the Act.”
Ford himself went into the trial saying he did nothing wrong. During the grilling by Ruby, he allowed that, if he had been advised that voting on the matter could land him in court, he wouldn’t have voted.
“I would have declared a conflict like I have every other time,” the mayor said. “But now that we’re here, I’m here. I can’t change what happened.”
Mayor Rob Ford guilty, kicked from office but can run again
Mayor Rob Ford has been found guilty of conflict of interest and will be removed from office.
But Justice Charles Hackland has granted Ford a 14-day stay and he will be allowed to run again.
It is assumed Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday will take over Ford’s duties.
Hackland found the mayor in violation of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. He had the option of banning Ford from running for up to seven years.
The hotly awaited decision follows a two-day hearing in early September that saw Ford grilled over his conduct at a Feb. 7 council meeting and the events that led up to it.
The city’s integrity commissioner ruled in 2010 that then-councillor Ford was wrong to use official letterhead and other city resources to solicit donations from people lobbying him for his namesake football foundation.
Council agreed and ordered Ford to repay $3,150 to lobbyists, their clients and one private firm. Ford ignored six reminders from the integrity commissioner before she brought the issue back to council Feb. 7.
There, Ford made an impassioned speech about why he shouldn’t be forced to repay the money, arguing it was spent distributing football equipment to schools. He voted with the 22-12 majority to cancel the order that he repay.
In March, Toronto resident Paul Magder alleged Ford broke a provision in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act which states elected officials can’t speak to, or vote upon, items in which they have a “pecuniary interest.”
At the hearing before Hackland, Magder’s lawyer Clayton Ruby argued Ford was “reckless” and “wilfully ignorant” of the law when he did not recuse himself from the debate and vote.
Ford, who was on council for a decade before becoming mayor in late 2010, testified he never read the Conflict of Interest Act or the councillor orientation handbook. Nor did he attend councillor training sessions that covered conflicts of interest.
The mayor promised in his oath of office to “disclose conflicts of interest” but, when asked by Ruby if he understood the words, Ford said: “No. My interpretation of a conflict of interest, again, is it takes two parties and the city must benefit or a member of council must benefit.”
Ruby accused Ford of “wilful blindness.”
“As mayor he ought to have had a clear understanding of his obligations. This entire pattern of conduct shows that he chose to remain ignorant, and substituted his own view for that of the law,” Ruby said.
Ford, longtime coach of Etobicoke’s Don Bosco Eagles, vehemently disagreed, saying he acted only in the best interests of high school students.
Ford’s lawyer, Alan Lenczner, offered a three-pronged defence.
He said council had no legislative authority to make Ford repay $3,150 in football charity donations in the first place.
Second, that if council did impose a penalty it was under Toronto’s code of conduct, not the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, so Ford could not have breached the act. If the Act applied, elected officials could not defend themselves when criticized by the integrity commissioner, he added.
Finally, that if Ford did err by not declaring a conflict, it was an inadvertent “error in judgment.”
“He may (have been) wrong (to vote),” Lenczner said. “And the case may allow for that, because that’s what an error of judgment is. You’re wrong, but that’s an excuse under the Act.”
Ford himself went into the trial saying he did nothing wrong. During the grilling by Ruby, he allowed that, if he had been advised that voting on the matter could land him in court, he wouldn’t have voted.
“I would have declared a conflict like I have every other time,” the mayor said. “But now that we’re here, I’m here. I can’t change what happened.”
I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
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he can run again...and he will...he might even win...so I wonder if Toronto will just appoint an acting mayor till next election or hold an election.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
his brother is deputy mayor and realistically is the de-facto mayor anyways as rob ford is a moron ... his brother has a little more in the noggin ...
edit: sorry ... always confuse the two ... doug holyday is deputy mayor not doug ford
edit...he can also appeal and a stay can be issued...i fully expect an appeal.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
there is a stay ... 14 days ...
and the next municipal election was set for 2014 not 2013
either way he'll likely be mayor a while longer...
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
hard to say ... he has like a 25%-30% approval rating (his supporters are die-hard - kinda like republicans ... hahaha) ... it'll depend on who runs against him ...
if olivia chow runs - he is toast ... if it's a current councillor ... he/she can't have vote splitting ... which is ultimately what put ford in to begin with ...
What I meant is he'll likely appeal...I have read that once he has launched an appeal he can also apply for a stay until the appeal is heard...that'll likely drag into the middle of next year or later...unless he just decides to not bother, which I don't see happening.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
right ... i suspect he'll appeal ... but i think he feels confident he can win again so he just may run again ... the other consideration if he does appeal is that he's got two other pending court cases and they could both theoretically turn out against him ... does he want to add those things in by pushing a byelection!?
sounds like this guy has some problems
or go for lunch with this mayor...
Joe Fontana, mayor of London, Ont., faces non-confidence motion
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... -down.html
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
yeah ... it's embarrassing ... :oops:
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
1. paid the money back to begin with ($3,000 - and his family is well off)
2. didn't ask council to let him off
3. read the fucking guidebook as a councilor (which he was for 10 years)
4. had a team of advisers that told him voting on an issue pertaining to him is a conflict of interest ...
like it's just stupidity, arrogance and entitlement all around ...
mind boggling listening to his supporters ...
"he can relate to the poor/middle class" - dude was born with a silver spoon ... maybe not super rich but they have been well off
"it's just left politics" - dude campaigned on integrity and it was the independent integrity commissioner who asked him to comply a bunch of times
The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08