Toronto City Councillor Jim Karygiannis removed from office

By The Canadian Press, News Staff

Toronto City Councillor Jim Karygiannis is being removed from office.

The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear Karygiannis’  bid to hang on to his position.

Karygiannis faced removal from office after exceeding a spending limit by about $25,000 during the 2018 election.

Under Ontario’s Municipal Act, such a spending violation results in automatic forfeiture of office.

However, an Ontario Superior Court judge allowed Karygiannis to keep his seat upon deciding the error at issue was made inadvertently and that he had not tried to hide anything.

The Ontario Court of Appeal then set aside the lower court decision, saying there was no jurisdiction to provide relief from forfeiture.

As usual, the Supreme Court gave no reason for refusing to hear the appeal.

Mayor John Tory was asked what’s going to happen next, he said to “have the seat declared vacant, I’m not sure if that can happen as early as the council meeting coming up next week, and then there’s a decision council has to make within a reasonable period amount of time after that as to whether a by-election would have to be called or you would make an appointment to fill that seat.”

In a statement posted to his website, Karygiannis says he is leaving politics.

After 32 years serving as your Member of Parliament and your Toronto City Councillor, I am leaving politics. It has been an honour and privilege to serve the people of Scarborough-Agincourt.  I want to thank them for the trust they have shown me. I want to thank my family – my wife, daughters, sons-in-law and granddaughter– for their love and support over the years

 

 

 

 

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