Calls grow for resignation of Brampton councillor over ‘illegal basement apartment’: petition

There’s a growing call for a Brampton City Councillor to resign after residents learned he was part-owner of a home with an illegal rental suite as the city is pushing to crackdown on thousands of non-compliant rentals.

The call comes following reports that rookie Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor was on the title for a Brampton home that had been “rented out illegally” since at least 2021, according to the CBC.

Toor previously made headlines when he was linked to an abandoned house in Brampton that had racked up more than $12,000 in property fines.

Now some residents are urging Mayor Patrick Brown “to immediately seek the resignation of Councilor Toor” in an online petition calling to oust “dishonest councillors.”

The petition points out the hypocrisy of a city councillor owning a non-compliant suite while the city is currently under a residential rental licensing program aimed at dealing with an estimated 16,000 to 30,000 illegal rentals.

It had over 260 signatures as of Friday at 2:30 p.m.

The petition says residents are concerned over Toor’s “denial of ownership in the first place and then not doing anything about the legality of the premises.”

“I ask the mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown to immediately seek the resignation of Councilor Toor,” the petition reads.

The first-term councillor told INsauga.com that he was co-owner of the home on Gardenbrooke Trail “for a brief period of time due to personal family reasons.” He says he was a 1 per cent owner of the property but no longer holds “any interest in this property.”

“When it comes to city bylaws, they apply equally to me as they would to any resident of our city,” he told INsauga.com.

He says that after learning of the illegal suite he “gave the same advice to my sister that I give to any of my residents – to take this as an opportunity to work with the city and remediate any issues to bring the property into compliance.”

“I believe that is happening in this case,” he said in a statement.

There are only a few ways a sitting municipal councillor in Ontario can be forced out of their job, and being part-owner of an illegal rental or a questionable property isn’t on the list.

For the petition signers to get their wish Toor would have to voluntarily step down – something he says he’s not prepared to do.

“Regarding the petition, I am a firm believer that the ultimate vote of confidence is an election,” he said. “I have a duty to serve my residents to my best ability till the next election. I hear the engaged residents who are asking I do better. To them, I promise the same.”

Under the city’s new Residential Rental Licensing pilot program, home owners found renting an illegal unit face escalating fines. Failing to sign up to the RRL by the end of September came with a $600 bill from the city, going up to $900 for the second offence and $1,200 for the third.

On top of registration fees, the new RRL program has Brampton Enforcement and By-law Services inspecting rental units “in response to residents’ concerns or where there have been previous concerns of compliance.”

The program was restarted in April after being put on hold just weeks after launch following complaints from local landlords.

Not the first time Toor has been in the spotlight over properties in Brampton, the councillor came under fire for the condition of a home on Queen Street belonging to a numbered company linked to Toor.

The boarded-up property is just blocks from Brampton City Hall and is reportedly sometimes used as a homeless encampment. In 2021, the property was hit with 29 tickets over about eight months, adding up to some $12,500 in fines.

An integrity commissioner complaint was also reportedly filed against Toor by an enforcement officer who was taken off the file after making multiple requests to Toor to pay the fines.

As for the property on Gardenbrooke Trail, Toor initially denied ownership but was found to be a 1 per cent owner, the CBC reported.

“I’m no different than any other resident of the City of Brampton,” Toor told Insauga.com in June about the home on Queen Street. He said he was just “one of many ” directors of the ownership company.

Before being elected to Brampton City Council in 2022, Toor was a special assistant to former Mayor Linda Jeffrey.

He challenged and defeated Gurpreet Dhillon in the municipal election in Wards 9 and 10 following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment by the former councillor while on a City of Brampton trade mission to Turkey in 2019.

Dhillon was the only incumbent Brampton councillor not reelected in 2022.

Toor reportedly owns three other properties in Caledon, according to the CBC.