Elections Ontario asked to investigate Holyday garbage truck photo op

The Ontario Liberal Party is asking Elections Ontario to investigate whether Progressive Conservative candidate Doug Holyday broke the election finance rules when he used a garbage truck during a photo op last week.

Holyday, who is on leave as Toronto’s deputy mayor, is running for a provincial legislature seat in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

Last Wednesday, he and PC Leader Tim Hudak stood next to a Green for Life garbage truck adorned with a City of Toronto logo. The garbage truck has significance for Holyday, who, as a former mayor of Etobicoke, privatized garbage collection in that ward. Toronto expanded its private garbage pickup in the west end in 2012.

The Liberal party drafted a letter dated July 26 to Elections Ontario asking whether the photo op violated rules after Green For Life and the city consented to the truck being used for the event free of charge.

Elections Ontario said in an email that it doesn’t comment on whether it has received a complaint or whether an investigation has been launched. But it said the outcome of any probe would be reported by the chief electoral officer in his next report for Queen’s Park. A date wasn’t immediately provided.

Holyday’s press secretary Christine Bujold reiterated to CityNews.ca, “There were no city resources used in our photo op and that was confirmed” by the private garbage contractor.

She added the Liberals were trying “to change the channel” away from scandals, such as the cancelled GTA gas plants which have cost taxpayers at least $585 million.

Last week Holyday and his campaign told the Toronto Sun that, “There was absolutely no cost to the taxpayer and I certainly had nothing to do with that clean truck showing up.”

His Liberal rival Peter Milcyzn, who is on leave as a Toronto councillor, has already asked that both the city’s integrity commissioner and the lobbyist registrar look into the matter.

The Etobicoke-Lakeshore seat become vacant when former education minister Laurel Broten stepped down last month. Voting in that byelection, one of five in the province, occurs on Thursday.

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