Coun. Mark Taylor's election finances referred to the courts

An independent committee hasvotedto prosecuteCoun. Mark Taylor over an apparent violation of Ontario'sMunicipal Elections Act, after an outside audit determined he had made a "clerical error"in how he carried over a deficitfrom the 2010 campaignto theone in 2014.

The decision came as a surprise to Taylor, who questioned both the process followed by the election compliance audit committee and the lack of information available to candidates about the rules.

The audit described howTaylor's books for the 2010 campaign in Bay wardsaid he had no deficit, while his statements for 2014 carried overa deficit of$4,050 from 2010. Taylorsaid it all came down to how he chose to fill out a form, which he thought he did in a compliant and transparent way.

Until the unanimous vote against him attheelection compliance audit committee Monday, he felt the audit by RaymondChabotGrantThorntonbodedwell for him. Now he will be looking for a way to appeal.

"I'm disheartened to say the least,"said Taylor, adding nopublic figure wantscontroversy.

The committee'schair,former Elections Canada chief electoral officer Jean-PierreKingsley, underlined that thevote to prosecute Taylor doesn't mean the five members have found him guilty of anything.

"The courts determine whether or not there was an infraction,"said Kingsley.

6 candidates originallyunder scrutiny

The financial statements for six candidates-turned-councillorscame under scrutiny last spring after one resident,Pat Ready, filed complaints followingthe 2014 municipal election.

In July, theelection compliance audit committeeturned down requests for four of the audits againstStephen Blais, Shad Qadri,Mathieu Fleury andRiley Brockingtonbut decided to have an auditorlook into the campaign finances ofTaylor and WestCarleton-March Coun.Eli El-Chantiry.

With the audit now in front of them, the committee discussed the market value El-Chantiryassigned to the old campaign signs he used in 2014, but ultimately decided not to prosecute him on a "clerical error" in his financial statements.

"Yet in my case, they found the exact opposite with virtually the same information," Taylor said."It's not for me to second guess the committeebut, clearly, I'm not happy with their decision."

He added, "I think people who have paid attention to the process through the whole thing are just as mystified as me about the outcome."

Taylor said he believes theproceedings expose largerproblems in the Municipal Elections Act, and the lack of guidance available to candidates

El-Chantiryagreed that there should beclearer rules around using old election signs. He vowed Monday to get rid ofhis campaign signs to avoid having to figure out how to report the correct figure when thecity form asks for their market value while theactasks for their replacement value.

The city solicitor's officewill now have to hireanoutside lawyer to work onthe case against Taylor.

Even before Monday's lengthymeeting, the City had spent$67,368 on the committee's work and the audits out of its election reserve fund.