A case in which “reasonable grounds” were found to determine Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc breached various campaign finance rules in 2022 will be sent to the provincial offences system.
Central to the case is an allegation that a Sept. 11, 2022 Grandparents’ Day event served as part of Leduc’s bid for re-election and should have been accounted for in his campaign finances.
Leduc maintains the Grandparents’ Day event was merely a community event without political motivations.
“Absolutely, I acted in good faith,” Leduc told Sudbury.com following Wednesday’s Election Compliance Audit Committee meeting, whose five members voted unanimously to send the matter to the court system.
A few other apparent breaches of the Municipal Elections Act, one of which Leduc described on Wednesday as “minor and wasn’t done intentionally,” were also flagged in a third-party report on his campaign finances prepared by KPMG.
Leduc said he welcomes upcoming legal proceedings, as he believes that he will come out of it cleared of bad-faith actions. During Wednesday's meeting, his lawyer, Tim Harmar, suggested that upcoming court decisions might even help set precedents to help fine-tune provincial legislation, which he said leaves room for interpretation.
Following Wednesday’s meeting, committee chair Peter McMullen told Sudbury.com he’s uncertain as to the upcoming court process’s timeline, but that the provincial offences system is quicker than criminal courts.
The committee wasn’t tasked with determining whether Leduc breached the Municipal Elections Act, but that there were “reasonable grounds to commence prosecution,” McMullen explained, adding that it’s now in the court’s hands.
Written rationale for the committee’s determination, which came following approximately one hour of closed-door deliberations, will be posted to the city’s website within the next couple of days, McMullen said.
Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, the committee determined in April 2023 that there were “reasonable grounds” to enlist KPMG to conduct an audit of his finances.
This third-party audit was released last month and reaffirmed the committee’s prior assessment.
Wednesday’s decision followed a presentation by KPMG and final submissions by both Leduc and Anastasia Rioux, the Ward 11 resident who filed the application for a compliance audit.
“I’m elated,” Rioux told Sudbury.com following Wednesday's meeting, noting that the Grandparents’ Day event in question happened a long time ago, so seeing something finally happen is rewarding.
“There were a lot of unfair advantages that happened as a result of that event, so I’m happy it has all come to, somewhat, fruition today,” she added.
While Rioux filed the application which the committee considered, Leduc’s political opponent in the 2022 civic election, Christopher Duncanson-Hales, also filed a similar complaint. His was rejected due to the fact the committee had already agreed to a third-party audit by the time it was tabled for consideration.
Duncanson-Hales watched Wednesday's meeting from the gallery at Tom Davies Square, after which he shared in Rioux’s elation the matter is proceeding through the court system.
He first raised the 2022 Grandparents’ Day event as an alleged “campaign event” shortly after it took place, at which time he cited such evidence as Leduc’s car with election magnets being prominently displayed at the entrance to the event, and volunteers wearing “Team Leduc” jackets.
“It’s really unfortunate that it’s taken this long, and it’s going to take longer,” Duncanson-Hales said after Wednesday’s meeting. “He could very well run the clock out on this council and go straight to the end.”
Whether Leduc’s apparent breaches were “through ignorance or intent,” Duncanson-Hales said public officials need to be held to a higher standard.
Those convicted of an offence may be subject to a fine of up to $25,000, become ineligible to vote or run in the next general election, face up to six months in prison and forfeit their office if the judge finds they committed the offence knowingly.
“If you are convicted of exceeding the spending limit, you may also be fined the amount by which you exceeded the limit,” according to the province’s website.
Any one of Leduc’s apparent breaches would bring him over his election campaign spending limit of $14,159.60.
Although a timeline was not provided on Thursday, the province notes that prosecution related to the 2022 election must be commenced before Nov. 15, 2026. The next municipal election will be held on Oct. 26, 2026.
Wednesday’s appearance saw Leduc defend his position, represented primarily through lawyer Tim Harmer, who attended the meeting virtually.
For her 10 minutes of speaking time, applicant Anastasia Rioux reiterated her case regarding campaign expenses alongside various other grievances against Leduc. This included allegations of improperly placed campaign signs and Leduc’s false claim that proponents tampered with video evidence of Grandparents’ Day. The city’s integrity commissioner already censured Leduc for his comments, which he retracted.
Leduc called a point of order to question the relevance of her comments to the matter at hand, but McMullen allowed her to proceed.
Afterward, Rioux told Sudbury.com she sought to paint a pattern of behaviour for the committee.
“If we’re going to treat what happened at Grandparents’ Day as one violation and say we’ll slap you on the wrist, there are other violations you can go back and look at,” she said.
At one point, Leduc was seen laughing while Rioux aired her grievances, prompting her to remind him that she listened when he had his 10 minutes.
Rioux maintained that, despite Leduc’s assertion to the contrary, Grandparents’ Day was a campaign function.
Why else, she contended, would a “Volunteer Dinner” following the event be included by Leduc as a campaign expense ($550 at Hilton Garden Grille)?
“KPMG inquired as to why food to thank volunteers for assisting with Grandparents’ Day 2022 constituted an election campaign expense if Mr. Leduc was not campaigning at the event,” according to the KPMG report.
“Mr. Leduc told us that approximately six to eight of the 10 to 12 volunteers who helped with the event were also part of his campaign team.” They hadn’t intended to volunteer at the event, but after the Minnow Lake Lions pulled out at the last minute, Leduc’s campaign team stepped in.
KPMG partner Kas Rehman summarized their findings in relation to Leduc’s apparent breaches of the Municipal Elections Act.
In addition to Grandparents’ Day 2022 expenses totalling $2,998.27, which he noted “apparently should have been included as election campaign expenses,” were a few other apparent breaches of the Municipal Elections Act.
- Accepting $500 in cash, which is in excess of the $25 cash limit. Leduc clarified that he attempted to account for it by photocopying five $100 bills, but it still appears to be a breach. Harmar described this as “a misstep, an oversight that was made in good faith, and he took steps to remedy that situation, or to at least acknowledge it.”
- Accepting three $3,000 bank drafts purchased by Anna Maria Villano, whose memo lines indicate contributions from Anna, Mike and Frank, respectively. Leduc said it came from a joint account, but KPMG concluded it may comprise a contribution of $1,800 in excess of the $1,200 contribution limit for single contributors (Anna).
- $307 of campaign expenses were recorded, but not paid from Leduc’s campaign bank account. Paying in this manner was “a matter of convenience,” Leduc’s submission said, asserting there “was no bad will in this regard.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
