Toronto's Integrity Commissioner says it will not complete a conflict of interest investigation against Mayor John Torrey by Friday's deadline.
In an email to Global His News on Wednesday, City Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty said that since this is the year of local elections, the City of Toronto Act will said it is requesting all inquiries to be “finished in August.” 19/19/2022, whether they are completed or not.
Read more: Jays prez Shapiro says it supports ActiveTO
Required 19 July 2022 to collect all evidence, complete the necessary analyzes, compile findings and issue a report in connection with the investigation that commenced on 27 July 2022.” Batty writes.
He added that "at this time," he "has not made any determination as to whether a violation of the local government conflict of interest law has occurred." }
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"The fact that you will not complete the investigation by August 19, 2022 must not be interpreted any other way. hm,” he writes.
According to Mr Batty, under City of Toronto law, if the applicant or applicant requests in writing between his October 24, 2022 and his December 5, 2022 Only then can the investigation be reopened.
Regarding its relationship with Rogers Communications, which the party claimed had a conflict of interest, and the Council's decision to end regular ActiveTO road closures on Lakeshore Boulevard West.
In 2020, the city decided to close the east-facing portion of the six-lane road to allow the public access to the waterfront while practicing social distancing during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Increased accessible space. lockdown.
ActiveTO closures will be less frequent during 2021, and in 2022 he has had two so far.
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On 26 July, civic activist Adam Chaleff commented on Tory participation in parliamentary debates. It said it had filed a formal complaint with the city's integrity commissioner. Active TO.
In early June,his CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays Mark Shapiro sent an open letter to Toronto City Council members urging them not to vote in favor of extending ActiveTO. .
"On the day ActiveTO was on at Lake Shore, local fans experienced significant transit delays as traffic stopped on all routes downtown," the letter said. It was written.
Tory has a long association with Rogers Communications, which owns Blue Jays. Torrey served as an executive at Rogers in the 1990s and is still a member of the trust's advisory board to the family that manages Rogers today.
Shapiro later said he supported ActiveTO, but hoped the council would rearrange the time and place of the program.
Read more: Toronto Integrity Commissioner Investigating Mayor John Torrey over Rogers Links
In a series of tweets last month, Charev said: It said it believed the Tories "violated the city's conflict of interest laws when they voted and spoke to end Lakeshore Boulevard." Closure of ActiveTO.
"I believe the Tories attempted to serve Rogers and his two rulers, the public interest, at the same time. This is what his MCIA is set to prevent." That is,” writes Charev.
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In a statement emailed to Global News on Wednesday, Tory's office spokesperson Robin Hadisi added that the mayor's "honesty record is 'certainly clear about the timing of the complaints'."
"The Mayor has fully cooperated with the Integrity Commissioner's review and we are confident that he has complied with the law and acted appropriately and in good faith in this matter," Hadesi said. said.
Mr Hadisi said ActiveTO was "a traffic problem that affects thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of residents" and that Conservative MPs "directly or indirectly I have no reasonably recognizable personal interest," he added.
Hadisi said the mayor "respects the integrity commissioner and his process" and would not comment further "at this time."
Wednesday In a statement emailed to Global News on , Charev said he would ask the Integrity Commissioner to "reopen the investigation into the relationship between Mayor Tory and Rogers" after the election.
"While we are disappointed that voters will not be able to know the outcome of this inquiry before they cast their ballot, we are committed to conducting a full, fair and prompt investigation into Mayor Torrey's apparent conflict of interest. Thank you for the efforts of the Integrity Commissioner," he wrote.
— Using files from Global News' Isaac Callan and The Canadian Press
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
