Councillor deserves reprimand for comments on Scarborough subway briefing note, integrity commissioner says
Coun. Josh Matlow should be reprimanded over public comments he made about the motivations of city staff in relation to the controversial Scarborough subway project, Toronto's integrity commissioner says.
Commissioner Valerie Jepson said Matlow "crossed the line" when he publicly questioned the motivations of city staff in writing a briefing note about the project.
"Drawing public servants into the debate by raising specific questions about whether their advice was politically motivated, and accordingly not to be trusted, in a mass media forum is harmful to the reputation of staff, and conduct that is contrary to the Code of Conduct," Jepson wrote in her report, released earlier this week.
While Matlow may disagree with decisions council has made regarding the Scarborough subway project, and can continue to call for councillors to reconsider the issues, "what he cannot do is draw Toronto's professional public service into the debate," Jepson said.
Matlow says he 'cannot accept' findings
In a lengthy statement disputing the report's conclusions, Matlow said he "cannot accept" Jepson's findings.
"While I appreciate that providing judgement on this matter was a difficult undertaking, the report does not provide an accurate portrayal of my actions, omits details that are fundamental to the issues at hand, and asks that I suspend my knowledge of the facts in this matter to avoid penalty," Matlow wrote in his statement.
The commissioner's report stems from a complaint filed by then-TTC CEO Andy Byford, who alleged Matlow contravened the city's Code of Conduct in an Oct. 25, 2016 interview on CBC's Metro Morning, and then at council and committee meetings in October and November of the following year.
"During the interview, the Councillor mentioned me by name, shortly after making introductory comments that insinuated that the advice of some staff was questionable [and] unable to be trusted," Byford said of the Metro Morning interview in his complaint, as quoted in Jepson's report.
"Councillor Matlow essentially said that what I and other TTC colleagues had said (via the briefing note) was not true and he further implied that my motives were less than honourable."
In an email statement to CBC Toronto, Byford — who is now in New York serving as president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — said Friday he is "grateful" to the integrity commissioner and her staff for investigating "and I am pleased that my complaint was upheld."
The briefing note Byford referenced was circulated ahead of a July 2016 council meeting that was to consider the Scarborough subway extension.
In the Metro Morning interview, Matlow said his research suggested that some of the facts in the note were "untrue" and he suggested the information "seems to be…influenced by the politicization of city hall rather than just their objective advice."
In his statement responding to the integrity commissioner's findings, Matlow said he didn't mention Byford's name in the Metro Morning interview and accepted the finding that Byford and his staff did not intentionally mislead council.
"My underlying concern is that inaccurate information was presented to Council that influenced the vote on a major transit project that will cost the City billions more to provide less service to residents," Matlow wrote.
No TTC public servants misled council: Jepson
In her report, Jepson noted that the city's auditor general investigated the creation and distribution of the briefing note and concluded that "there was no political interference and that no public servants at the TTC misled city council."
In his conclusion, Matlow said "there is a significant and crucial difference between suggesting that information provided to council was 'deliberately misleading' and 'politicized,' yet the two appear to be conflated and interchangeable in the Integrity Commissioner's report."
He doesn't think TTC staff intentionally tried to deceive council, Matlow said. His references to politicization are in reference to a culture that he has observed at city hall, he said.
In her report, Jepson said she does not recommend a penalty more severe than a reprimand.
