Brampton council held a special meeting on May 31 where it narrowly passed a motion to conditionally appoint Elaine Moore, a former city and district councillor, to its ranks if Coun. Charmaine Williams won election for the Ontario PC party in the June 2nd provincial election, as it happened. Six councilors voted in favor of the proposal, while Brown and five others were against. Coun. Harkirat Singh filed a suit challenging the decision. Justice Michael Doi found on Monday that the vote was premature and in violation of the Ontario Municipal Act. “The Board failed to comply with clear statutory requirements to fill the vacancy and acted in a complete absence of jurisdiction,” Doe wrote in his ruling, which can be read in full at the end of this story. Brown, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, welcomed Doe’s finding. He claimed Moore’s appointment was an attempt to “seize control” of the city council and called it “disastrous, wrong and illegal”. Singh said he sought legal advice on the move during the May debate, but councilors who voted in favor ignored it. Brampton council has not voted since Moore was appointed. As Doi notes, he has not had a quorum at any of his meetings since June 8.
‘In good faith’
Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon, one of the opposing counsel who moved to have Moore appointed, says that while he accepts the judge’s decision, the appointment was made in “good faith.” “We’ll live with that. But … it doesn’t take away from what’s actually going on and why they didn’t want that consultant there.” Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon spoke to reporters after an Ontario judge found Brampton council violated the Ontario Municipal Act by illegally appointing former councilor Elaine Moore. (CBC/Dean Gariepy) Dhillon says Moore, who was a former adviser to Brown during his 2018 mayoral run and has been critical of his leadership thus far, would be a key adviser to help “unearth” issues at his town hall Brampton. “There’s a pattern of behavior that relates to what’s going on at the federal level,” Dhillon said. Brown was recently kicked out of the federal Conservative leadership race over allegations he broke funding rules. He has denied any wrongdoing and has not said whether or not he will seek a second term as Brampton mayor.
Council to continue
Brown says he and other councilors missed a month of meetings to avoid challenging any proposals with an illegal councilor present in court, noting the city is already facing backlash from residents over recent planning and development commission approvals from Moore’s appointment. But now that it has been cancelled, he says they are looking forward to filling the vacancy ahead of the October municipal elections. “We’ve got a lot of work here at the city council that’s been piling up. And so certainly, the sooner we can fill that vacancy, the better.” Judge Doi ordered opposing counsel Doug Whillans, Jeff Bowman, Pat Fortini and Gurpreet Dhillon to pay $20,000 in court costs. CBC News reached out to MPP Williams, who also voted for Moore before entering provincial politics, for comment on her involvement. Moving forward, councilors Rowena Santos and Paul Vicente say they will push a motion to have all councilors attend mandatory Ontario Municipal Act training to prevent future incidents. You can read the full Doi decision below:
