TORONTO -- In the wake of a provincial court reinstating Jim Karygiannis as the city councillor for Scarborough-Agincourt, Toronto Mayor John Tory said he received many messages of support from constituents.
“I was very impressed during the time that he was gone,” Tory said while speaking to reporters ahead of a city council meeting on Tuesday morning.
“In the brief time that he was gone, the messages I received from people in his community, who talked about his very active role in the communities that make up his ward, and now he will be back to serve them.”
Karygiannis was removed from his position earlier this month over an alleged election expense violation. At the time, the city clerk informed the city councillor that he was no longer able to serve the residents of Ward 22 due to a supplementary financial statement he filed following last October’s municipal election.
The Municipal Elections Act allows each candidate to spend $61,207.95, with a maximum of 10 per cent or $6,120.80 on “parties and other expressions of appreciation” after voting day.
The clerk, Ulli Watkiss, alleged that Karygiannis spent $32,083.50 on “parties and other expressions of appreciation” after the 2018 Toronto election, which exceeds the limit by $25,962.70.
The city councillor maintained that the expense issues were due to a clerical error.
In the ruling on Monday, Justice Chalmers said he found Karygiannis “acted in good faith” with respect to disclosing a post-election party at Santorini Grill in Thornhill.
“The amount spent was disclosed,” he wrote. “The information with respect to the event was also disclosed in the supplementary financial statement albeit in a different section.”
“I find there was no attempt to hide the expense.”
Following the ruling, Tory said all the necessary steps were taken to allow the councillor to return to serving the people of Toronto.
“In this case, he went to court, he had his day in court, a judge made a decision to exercise discretion as judges can under these pieces of legislation and so he’ll be back doing his job,” he said.
While the judge agreed that the error on the supplementary financial statement was made inadvertently, the decision does not mean that Karygiannis, who still faces a compliance audit, has been vindicated concerning his campaign expenses.
Karygiannis was present at Tuesday’s city council meeting in light of the decision.
“I want to thank the unwavering support of my family, my staff, my constituents,” he told reporters. “I received hundreds of emails, numerous calls, and I’m just happy to be back.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing my work.”
Karygiannis has been a city councillor since 2014.
