Councillor Jim Karygiannis speaks to media in this file photo from Sept. 13, 2018.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Toronto councillor Jim Karygiannis was again removed from office over campaign spending after a court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the elections act penalty of forfeiting his political position, while harsh, was “clearly what the legislators intended.”
The ruling nullifies Mr. Karygiannis’s election victory of 2018, when he won his Scarborough ward with 47 per cent of the vote. Toronto’s city clerk will report to council next week on options for filling the seat.
Mr. Karygiannis was removed from office in November after his own financial statement showed he had shattered the spending limit under one part of the Municipal Elections Act. He went to court, where his lawyer blamed a clerical error for the admission of overspending, and got his seat back that same month.
In a decision released on Wednesday, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that his reinstatement was based on an improper reading of the law by a lower court. The court determined that the veteran politician was subject to the original penalty under the elections act: removal from office and a prohibition on being appointed to office or running again until after the next election.
“Granting relief from forfeiture [of his seat] would amount to rewriting or repealing the statute, revoking the very consequence for breach of the statute that the legislature prescribed,” Justice Julie Thorburn wrote in a decision backed by Justices Benjamin Zarnett and Mary Lou Benotto.
“I conclude there is no jurisdiction to grant relief from forfeiture.”
Mr. Karygiannis, who could try to pursue this matter to the Supreme Court, did not respond Wednesday to e-mails or voice-mail messages.
Adam Chaleff, a fair-elections advocate whose request for an audit revealed the campaign overspending, appealed the lower court ruling. He said he felt vindicated by Wednesday’s decision.
“This is the way the law’s written, and it’s supposed to be applied this way,” he said. “If you say you overspent your spending limit, then you’re going to be removed from office immediately, no if, ands or buts. You shouldn’t be allowed to drag this out for years and keep your office and the entitlement to vote on behalf of your constituents if you cheated to get elected.”
With a temporary lack of an elected representative in Ward 22, Toronto city staff will seek to accommodate residents’ needs. The seat is likely to be filled by appointment or by-election, depending on the will of city council.
“The city clerk will report to Toronto city council at its next meeting on June 29 describing the steps council must take to fill the vacancy,” municipal staff said in a statement.
Decisions will also need to be made about filling Mr. Karygiannis’s spot on city committees and boards, including the governance body overseeing the Toronto Transit Commission.
The Court of Appeal ruling caps a legal saga sparked by a declaration made by Mr. Karygiannis about his election spending in 2018.
Under the Municipal Elections Act, the limit for candidates in Mr. Karygiannis’s ward for spending on “parties and other expressions of appreciation” after the election was a maximum of $6,121.
Mr. Karygiannis’s original financial statement showed he had spent nothing in that category. But under the fundraising category, which had no spending limit, it showed that he had paid $5,000 for a victory night party and $27,083.50 for a dinner two months later.
After questions were raised, Mr. Karygiannis filed a supplementary financial statement that designated both events as parties or appreciation. Taken together, they totalled nearly five times the maximum allowed for such spending.
Mr. Karygiannis’s lawyer argued that a simple mistake was made and the fact the spending was laid out in the financial statement was proof that his client had not been deceitful.
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