Brampton fined $20,000 for illegal motion to fill council seat

Brampton owes $20,000 in fees after six councillors tried to force through an illegal motion, leaving Mayor Patrick Brown and his half of council backers feeling “vindicated” for skipping meetings to block the appointment.

On Monday, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that a motion passed in Brampton council chambers back in May was illegal under the Ontario Municipal Act for attempting to appoint an interim councillor before the seast was declared vacant.

That motion, which has now been quashed, passed 6-5 with councillors Martin Medeiros, Pat Fortini, Jeff Bowman, Gurpreet Dhillon, Doug Whillans and former Councillor Charmain Williams voting in favour.

The court found the motion “passed without lawful jurisdiction,” and ordered $20,000 paid to Coun. Harkirat Singh to cover the cost of the court application.

“This was clearly illegal, and let me say that what happened was wrong,” he said. “It was an attempt to seize control of the city, flagrantly ignoring the Municipal Act, thinking that these councillors were above the law.”

RELATED: Court finds 6 Brampton city council thought they were above the law with illegal appointment

Brown, along with Councillors Rowena Santos, Michael Palleschi, Singh, Paul Vicenti, deliberately missed two special meetings and two regular meetings of council to stall the appointment while the court came to its ruling.

But their no-shows also put a hold on other city business, including a grant request from Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing units in Brampton, a report on a new tourism sign from the city, and a motion to ask the province to move the municipal election date as it falls on the religious festival of Diwali.

Two development applications could also be put on hold, as members of the Credit Valley Residents Association (CVRA) have challenged decisions on a proposed multi-use apartment complex and a townhouse development in Brampton due to “an improper composition of Council.”

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown (centre) and Councillors Rowena Santos (top left), Paul Viciente (bottom left), Harkirat Singh (top right), and Michael Palleschi (bottom right) have won a legal challenge against a motion attempting to appoint an interim councillor before the seast was declared vacant.

Brown said the court’s ruling “vindicates the decision” to miss the meetings, adding that the councillors who supported the motion should be held responsible for any lawsuits “because of what happened in the last month.”

“We were attacked for not attending meetings, but we knew that if we did, it would cause massive exposure to the city,” Brown said, adding that “every decision made at those council meetings would have been successfully challenged.”

“Brampton taxpayers should not be responsible for their illegal shenanigans,” he said.

The controversial motion could have seen retired Councillor Elaine Moore temporarily appointed to the Wards 7 and 8 seat following former Councillor Charmaine Williams winning her bid for MPP of Brampton Centre in the provincial election last month.

Brown called the motion an unprecedented attempt “to illegally take control of a city.”

The five councillors now facing the fine were part of a so-called “Bloc of Six ” who routinely voted together to control the will of council. That group of six was cut down to five after Williams resigned.

Following Tuesday’s press conference, the five councillors behind the motion issued a statement calling for the RCMP to investigate “Patrick Brown’s financial dealings inside Brampton City Hall.”

Those councillors are accusing Brown and his supporters of running out the clock on a forensic audit of the now-scrapped Brampton University project.

The call comes following the Brown’s ousting from the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership race due to allegations his campaign broke financial provisions of the Canada Elections Act, as well as allegations Brown used “taxpayer-funded City Hall staff to work on his federal campaign.”

Brown is challenging the decision to kick him from the CPC race, while a spokesperson for the mayor said on Monday that supporters on the front lines of the campaign believe that if he is not reinstated, then Jean Charest is the best alternative.

The statement from Medeiros, Fortini, Bowman, Dhillon, Whillans made no mention of the illegal motion or the $20,000 fine. Request for comment from those councillors was not immediately returned.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story said the six councillors in support of the motion owed the fine, not the city.

With files from The Canadian Press