Donors won't be prosecuted for exceeding campaign limits

An independent city committee has decided not to prosecute five local donors, all with ties to the development industry, after their campaign contributions in the last municipal election appeared to top the $5,000 limit.

Ottawa's city clerk was tasked with going through hundreds of donations to identify individuals or third parties who might have spent too much under rules introduced just ahead of Ontario's 2018 municipal elections.

That led to six people's reports coming before the election compliance audit committee Friday.

The five-member committee decided not to start legal proceedings against Troy and Joanna van Haastrecht, Frank Cairo, Ron Tomlinson and Cuckoo Kochar. John Riddell's report was deferred to Dec. 16, at his lawyer's request.

Donors point to cheque errors

A couple of the donors personally attended the meeting to explain why their numbers didn't add up.

Both Troy van Haastrecht and Frank Cairo of Caivan Communities gave $1,000 too much. They said they each gave $500 to former Orléans councillor Bob Monette before he withdrew from the race, and that they were promised a refund.

Van Haastrecht said he sent a second $500 cheque to Innes ward candidate Tammy Lynch by accident, while Cairo explained his cheque to Lynch was supposed to be counted as his wife's.

"In retrospect, to avoid this type of administrative error, we would have followed a different course," Cairo told the committee.

He also sent an apology letter and said he took the issue seriously.

Tomlinson's lawyer explained a $500 cheque to the David Gourlay campaign in Kanata North was his wife's donation.

Similarly, Cuckoo Kochar of Phoenix Homes showed in documents that donations to Carol Anne Meehan and Eli El-Chantiry were made by his wife and not him.

After deliberating, the committee decided the donors either made honest or administrative mistakes.

"Given the amount of the over-contributions, the committee does not consider it to be in the public interest to begin legal proceedings in these circumstances," said member Peter O'Callaghan as he read the committee's motion.

'Knuckles rapped'

Kevin O'Donnell. who's made a personal mission out of figuring out who gives how much to whom — and whether they break the rules — said he would have preferred the committee prosecute some donors.

For the past two elections, O'Donnell has led a group of volunteers that have catalogued all donations in a database.

He said he felt Friday's results were akin to a police officer waving a speeding motorist over and giving them a warning but not a ticket.

Still, he was happy to see some "knuckles rapped."

"There's some use there. People were called to task by name to say, 'It looks like you over-contributed.' They had to explain themselves. So that alone is a vast improvement over 2014 when, officially, nobody cared."

Work not done

The committee's business stemming from the 2018 municipal election is not done, however.

It decided Friday to hire an independent prosecutor, paid by the City of Ottawa, to weigh whether to launch legal proceedings against Jay Tysick and seek a penalty in court.

The committee says Tysick, who ran unsuccessfully in Osgoode ward, allegedly contravened various aspects of the new election rules, including not filing financial statements.

The committee is also waiting for an audit of the campaign finances for Innes Coun. Laura Dudas.