Beaches-East York Councillor Bradford reprimanded for violating Code of Conduct during mayoral byelection campaign
By ALAN SHACKLETON
Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford has been reprimanded for breaching Toronto’s Code of Conduct in relation to the use of constituent emails during his mayoral byelection campaign in 2023.
Toronto Council voted to issue the reprimand at its July 24 meeting on the recommendation of city Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty.
The Integrity Commissioner began an investigation into the matter last year after four Beaches-East York residents complained that they had received unsolicited emails from Bradford’s mayoral byelection campaign in the spring of 2023. The investigation began on Aug. 1, 2023 and finished on June 19 of this year, according to the Integrity Commissioner.
Batty’s investigation concluded that Bradford had violated Articles 5 and 7 of the city’s Code of Conduct in relation to the use of the councillor’s constituent contact information during his mayoral byelection campaign.
The report on the investigation was released on July 17 and recommended that Toronto Council reprimand Bradford for the violations. A reprimand is generally considered to be a symbolic but official rebuke, and no there is no further penalty associated to the decision.
Council voted 22-0 to approve the reprimand. Absent from the vote were Bradford, Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher and Etobicoke North Councillor Vincent Crisanti.
Article 5 of the Code of Conduct applies to the use of Confidential Information, including email contact lists and what they may be used for. It specifically prohibits “constituent contact list information members obtain in their official capacity from being shared with their election campaign team,” said the Integrity Commissioner.
Article 7 of the Code of Conduct applies to Election Campaign work and “prohibits members of Council, and their staff, from using the resources of their City Hall offices for any election campaign or campaign-related activities”.
In a statement sent to Beach Metro Community News on Wednesday, July 31, Bradford apologized and said he accepts the Integrity Commissioner’s findings in the report.
“During last year’s mayoral byelection, my campaign team sent out an email and it turns out that it went to some people who it wasn’t supposed to. As soon as I found out it happened, I asked my team to look into it and take corrective action, which they did. It did not happen again, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” said Bradford.
“The buck stops with me, and I take full responsibility. I have accepted the Commissioner’s findings and apologize to the complainants and anyone else who was impacted.”
In his July 17 report, Integrity Commissioner Batty wrote that he had informed Councillor Bradford of his findings and offered him an opportunity to comment on them in accordance with the Toronto Municipal Code.
“Councillor Bradford’s legal counsel advises that Councillor Bradford is prepared to accept the reprimand I am recommending to Council, to avoid my Office’s ‘further expenditure of scarce taxpayer dollars, and time away from his constituents.’ His counsel further alleges my Office’s investigation was unfair and mischaracterized almost every single piece of evidence, despite the fact of Councillor Bradford’s admissions described below and his apparent willingness to accept a reprimand,” wrote Batty.
“I stand by my Office’s investigation,” he wrote.
In his report, Batty wrote about Councillor Bradford’s response to being told the Integrity Commissioner was undertaking an investigation based on the complaints of the four constituents.
“Councillor Bradford admitted his 2023 mayoral byelection campaign used constituent contact information transferred from his City Hall office. He advised that a former employee of his office, who volunteered on the campaign and did not name, was responsible for the error,” said Batty’s report.
In the report, Batty referred to a letter sent to him by Bradford dated Oct. 6, 2023 that mentioned the constituent contact list and that “some data” from the councillor’s City Hall NationBuilder was “inadvertently uploaded” to his mayoral campaign NationBuilder “on the assumption that it was data from a previous campaign that had been overlooked.”
Batty said the Oct. 6 letter from Councillor Bradford also said: “I take full responsibility for the mistake. The recipients who complained (about the May 16, 2023 campaign email under the Campaign Manager’s name) may have received one email as a result of this mistake. To them, and any others who may have come forward, I apologize for this administrative error.”
For a link to the Integrity Commissioner’s Report on Councillor Brad Bradford’s Use of Constituent Contact Information, please go to https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-247809.pdf
For more the Toronto Council agenda item on the July 24 vote to reprimand, please go to https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2024.CC20.8
