Toronto city councillor Paul Ainslie says he will be reporting the series of robocalls, which went out to some of his constituents in Scarborough Friday night, to the integrity commissioner.
In the recorded phone calls, the speaker, identifying himself as Mayor Rob Ford, criticizes Ainslie for voting against a Scarborough subway extension.
Ainslie stepped down Friday from the mayor’s executive committee after bringing forth a motion to revive a fully-funded LRT line for Scarborough, instead of a planned subway line that Ford had lobbied for.
Council eventually voted in favour of the subway plan.
“It was extremely, extremely unfortunate that your councillor Paul Ainslie was the only Scarborough councillor who did not listen to his constituents and voted against the Scarborough subway,” the voice on the robocall said. The phone number on the calls came from city hall.
Ainslie told CTV News he plans to report the calls to the integrity commissioner.
“One of the reasons I left the executive was the constant bullying that goes on,” Ainslie told CTV Toronto in a phone interview. “I leave the executive and he still tries to bully me.”
The integrity commissioner “plays a role in investigating complaints (formal or informal) about the conduct of Members of Council, Members of Local Boards (Restricted Definition) and Adjudicative Boards in determining whether or not there has been a violation of the City Codes of Conduct,” according to the City of Toronto website.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Council states, “No member of council shall use the influence of her or his office for any purpose other than for the exercise of her or his official duties.”
After reports of the Friday night calls, councillors took to Twitter to express their concern.
Councillor Shelley Carroll Tweeted:
Tweet your Councillor if you think it’s wrong to Robocall Campaign against Cllrs you dislike from your City Hall Phone. #TOpoli #FordLogic
— Shelley Carroll (@shelleycarroll) October 12, 2013
Councillor Jaye Robinson tweeted:
.@cllrainslie This is harassment. These intimidation tactics should not be tolerated. #robofordcalls
— Jaye Robinson (@JayeRobinson) October 12, 2013
Carroll later told CTV News: “If you’re making a robocall simply to give opposition to a councillor, sounds like campaigning,” Robinson said. “It’s wrong in timing sense and it’s wrong in resources sense.”
Ford’s spokespeople have yet to respond to questions as to whether the robocalls were indeed from the mayor.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Ashley Rowe
