Bonnie Crombie says if Patrick Brown is using City of Brampton resources to defeat her it needs to be investigated

Photographs and first-hand accounts shared with The Pointer have raised questions about the possible use of City of Brampton staff to help Mayor Patrick Brown’s mother-in-law, Silvia Gualtieri, in her campaign to beat Bonnie Crombie in the Mississauga East—Cooksville race.

Brown has twice previously directed City staff to work on campaigns, once for Peter MacKay when he unsuccessfully sought the federal Conservative leadership in 2020, and in 2022 when Brown tried to win the Conservative leadership (he was disqualified for allegedly violating elections finance rules, which he denies; the investigation is ongoing). 

Crombie, the Ontario Liberal leader and former Mississauga mayor, is seeking a seat in Queen’s Park for the first time and told The Pointer during a Brampton stop on the campaign trail ahead of the February 27 provincial election that an investigation into the possible use of City of Brampton resources in the race should be launched, if there is evidence.

"I don't have any information, but clearly, if City Hall resources are being used in an election campaign, that must be investigated," Crombie told The Pointer Tuesday, February 4. "Yes. Now, if these people are doing it, volunteering part-time with their City Hall resources and if they're being abused, then, yes, that must be investigated."

The Pointer has been contacted by multiple sources who have provided photos and first-hand accounts since Gualtieri launched her campaign as the riding's PC candidate, alleging City of Brampton staff are helping her. 

The man in the back left corner is allegedly Yeshwa Younas, an executive assistant to Mayor Patrick Brown.

(Supplied)

Yeshwa Younas, an executive assistant to Mayor Brown, is the person in the back corner of the car pictured above, according to a source who did not want his name used. Younas is allegedly working on Brown’s mother-in-law’s campaign. 

The Pointer has seen Younas inside City Hall on numerous occasions and photos online identifying him as Brown’s EA match the image in the photo supplied to The Pointer, shown above.

Joshua Santos, a temporary facility operator with the City of Brampton, is also allegedly the man shown in a photo standing next to Genevieve Gualtieri (Brown’s wife and Silvia’s daughter) while campaigning for the mayor’s mother-in-law. Sources who did not want to be named told The Pointer Santos is working on the campaign.

The man on the left is allegedly Joshua Santos, a City of Brampton employee, seen holding a campaign pamphlet alongside Genevieve Gualtieri, Mayor Patrick Brown’s wife and daughter of Silvia Gualtieri.

(Supplied)

The sources also allege Abdikarim Omar, another executive assistant to Mayor Brown, is also working on his mother-in-law’s campaign. Photos alleged to be him working on the campaign were sent to The Pointer but were not clear enough to properly identify the man.

The Pointer sent questions to Brown about the alleged use of City Hall staff to work on his mother-in-law’s campaign. He did not respond. Gualtieri was also asked about the allegations. She did not respond. 

Patrick Brown has been in hot water previously for using Brampton City Hall staff to work on political campaigns.

(The Pointer file photo)

City of Brampton officials were asked if they are aware of current employees working on any provincial election campaigns but did not respond ahead of publication. Officials did respond to previous questions about the City’s rules regarding the use of municipal resources for campaigning.

City staff shared two policy documents, the Use of Corporate Resource Policy (GOV-120) and the Voting Leave Policy (9.5.0). They explicitly prohibit municipal employees from engaging in campaign-related activities while being publicly funded, as well as the use of any city resources, including staff time, which is a violation of the rules.

According to the policies:

• Section 88.18 of the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) mandates that municipalities establish rules to prevent municipal resources from being used for election campaigns.

• Section 88.8 (4) and Section 88.12 (4) of the MEA explicitly prohibit a municipality from making contributions—which include money, goods, or services—to a municipal election candidate or a registered third party.

• Section 5.1(d) of the City of Brampton’s policy strictly forbids the use of municipal staff, resources, equipment, and services for any campaign-related activities.

Additionally, section 5.9 of the Use of Corporate Policy outlines rules governing staff conduct, stating that municipal employees shall not perform any work in support of a candidate while being compensated by the City or use their position in a manner that implies the City of Brampton’s endorsement of a candidate.

The policies align with Ontario’s Election Finances Act (EFA), which states that only individuals may contribute to political campaigns, explicitly barring corporations, trade unions and government entities from making contributions of any kind. The use of publicly funded municipal staff for campaigning may be interpreted as an in-kind contribution from a government entity, which is strictly prohibited under the EFA.

In 2022, Brown was exposed by the media while using City Hall staff at his Vaughan campaign office during his federal Conservative leadership bid. At the time, after video footage showed the vehicles of City of Brampton staff at Brown’s campaign office during work hours, Brown would not answer The Pointer’s questions about his use of City Hall staff. 

After a complaint was filed in 2022 against Brown, the City’s integrity commissioner at the time released a damning investigation report.

Brown used seven members of his taxpayer-funded mayor’s office staff to work on his federal Conservative Party leadership campaign during normal working hours. No approvals for the leave could be found and the City’s electronic records system was altered after the fact to reflect the time-off, the integrity commissioner concluded.

Because Brown failed to keep proper records the integrity commissioner, Principles Integrity, was unable to make an official finding against him, as there was a lack of evidence to show he had violated the City’s Code of Conduct rules preventing the use of City resources for political campaign activities, because the records were altered after the allegations arose. 

That did not stop the integrity commissioner from pointing out Brown’s reckless regard for Brampton taxpayers.

“It is clear that responsibility for ensuring compliance with the policy falls to the Mayor. There is no system in place in the Mayor’s office to record approval for time off – no paper files, no email requests – just entries in the corporate electronic system,” the integrity commissioner wrote in its 2022 investigation report.

“The lack of such documentation makes the circumstances incapable of audit, and likewise cannot give rise to a determination, on the balance of probabilities, that staff were working on city-paid time while serving on the Mayor’s campaign.”

The report revealed a lack of proper record keeping by Brown to show how he uses taxpayer resources.

“In all it is evident that seven members of the Mayor’s office staff were engaged in working on the Mayor’s leadership campaign at one point or another during normal working hours.”

The integrity commissioner reported that no approvals for the staff time-off could be found.

Brown claimed his City office staff were working on his federal leadership campaign during vacation time or while on leave, but no evidence of authorization for this was provided. Only the electronic records system was provided as evidence that appropriate time-off was taken, but the integrity commissioner found those records were changed after the fact: “The electronic City’s time system records showed that in a number of cases an entry of vacation/lieu time was made retroactively…”.

When councillors at the time tried to question Brown about his apparent abuse of taxpayers, he refused to respond. A majority group of councillors wrote an open letter in 2022 declaring democracy in Brampton was “under siege” as a result of Brown’s alarming leadership. He undermined efforts to investigate numerous allegations of wrongdoing inside City Hall.  

Brown also secretly used City Hall staff in 2020, when he directed senior employees to sell memberships during work hours for Peter MacKay, Brown’s former federal colleague who was seeking the Conservative Party of Canada leadership.

Whistleblower and senior staffer at the time, Gurdeep “Nikki” Kaur, provided evidence at the time, including text messages from Brown instructing her to sell party memberships and organize meet-and-greet events for MacKay during work hours. 

Brown cut short an external investigation ordered by a majority of councillors at the time, and he never sat down with the investigators to explain his direction to senior staff telling them to work on MacKay’s membership campaign. 

Text messages sent by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown to a senior City Hall staffer in 2020 directing her to work on a federal election campaign during work hours.

(Supplied)

In 2022 Brown cancelled a half-dozen external investigations recommended by Ontario’s Ombudsman, to probe allegations of wrongdoing including misuse of taxpayer resources under his leadership as Brampton’s mayor.

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