Toronto Mayor John Tory is facing the possibility of an investigation by the integrity commissioner on the eve of the city’s upcoming municipal election.
A complaint, filed by a community activist, alleges Tory has a conflict of interest because of his ties to Rogers Communications and a council decision to end regular ActiveTO road closures on Lake Shore Boulevard West.
Tory’s office told Global News they had not received any communication from the city’s integrity commissioner and said the mayor had no conflict.
The story was first reported in the Toronto Star on Tuesday.
Read more: Toronto ends regular road closures on ActiveTO waterfront
The complaint, filed by activist Adam Chaleff, alleges Tory was in a conflict of interest over the closure of Lake Shore Boulevard West after the Toronto Blue Jays CEO publicly lobbied to end the practice.
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The Blue Jays are owned by Rogers Communications.
Tory is an advisory board member of the Rogers Control Trust, which “exercises control over the RCI stock held by the Rogers family,” the complaint says.
Tory’s connection to the late Ted Rogers is a long-standing one dating back to his father. Mayor also previously ran the company’s cable division.
Tory confirmed to reporters in October that he receives compensation for his role in the trust, but said he has scrupulously followed the law every day.
“At all material times, Mayor Tory had an indirect pecuniary interest in the Toronto Blue Jays, by virtue of his involvement with the Rogers family trusts,” said the complaint, which has been seen by Global News .
ActiveTO’s closure of Lake Shore Boulevard West became a lightning rod for the debate between cyclists and drivers in Canada’s most populous city.
They started in 2020 as a response to pandemic lockdowns. The east side of the six-lane road was closed on weekends to allow open access to the waterfront, a space where residents could exercise and social distance at the same time.
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These closures continued into 2021 albeit less frequently and happened twice in 2022: on May 23 and May 29.
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Read more: Rogers CEO outlines new protocols, steps to prevent future network outages
In his letter to Toronto councillors, urging them to eliminate the ActiveTO closures on Lake Shore Boulevard West, Mark Shapiro, general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, said the closures were a nightmare for fans.
“On the days that ActiveTO has been in effect at Lake Shore, our local fans have experienced significant traffic delays because traffic has stopped on all downtown routes,” his letter said.
In a report to council, the city said when the road was closed for ActiveTO on May 23, travel times on the Gardiner Freeway between Highway 427 and York Street increased from 14.5 minutes to 33 ,6 minutes.
The complaint notes that Tory has, in the past, declared a conflict of interest in matters and decisions involving Rogers. The complaint estimates that this has happened in “at least 30 articles since March 1, 2019.”
2:03 Future of ActiveTO debated at Toronto City Council Future of ActiveTO debated at Toronto City Council – June 15, 2022
The Municipal Conflicts of Interest Act, which governs councillors, specifies that elected officials must declare the financial interests they have on an issue considered by the council and not participate in either the discussion or the vote on the issue.
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“This vote was about a city program that the mayor introduced and championed during the pandemic and this was a very broad public issue involving all road users in the city,” the office said de Tory in a statement on Tuesday.
The complaint asks Toronto’s integrity commissioner to fast-track the complaint so a decision can be made before the Oct. 24 municipal election.
It also states that if the integrity commissioner concludes that Tory violated provincial legislation, the commissioner must refer the case to an Ontario judge.
Global News contacted the city’s integrity commissioner to ask if the complaint had been received and if an investigation would be launched. No response was received at the time of publication.
Tory has declared that he will run for a third term as mayor of Toronto. Rival candidates include Gil Penalosa and Sarah Climenhaga.
Global News also reached out to Rogers Communications, the Toronto Blue Jays and the City of Toronto for comment.
— with files from Shallima Maharaj of Global News
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.