Toronto councillor cleared of campaign spending violations

A Toronto councillor has been cleared of campaign finance violations in court on Monday.

Etobicoke-Lakeshore Coun. Mark Grimes had been accused of not disclosing tens of thousands of dollars worth of spending on research and polling ahead of the 2014 municipal election.

On Monday, those charges were withdrawn, with the Crown saying it could not prove the allegations made by the Ontario Provincial Police’s anti-rackets unit.

Crown Michael Wilson said there’s evidence Grimes benefited from the research and didn’t disclose it, but that there’s nothing to show Grimes personally requested the data or deliberately failed to report it.

“For that reason, it is not in the public interest to proceed with this prosecution,” Wilson said.

Justin Di Ciano, who is no longer a city councillor, is facing the same charges. It’s unclear when the court will deal with his case.

Grimes has maintained he did nothing wrong. A member of his legal team who represented the councillor at court said Grimes is glad the matter has been resolved.

Grimes was re-elected in 2018.

CBC