Brampton resident protesting against alleged ‘corruption’ under Mayor Patrick Brown says arrest violated his Charter rights

On the evening of Wednesday, November 11, Azad Goyat stood in Brampton’s Garden Square holding two signs. The one in his left hand referred to Patrick Brown as a “Slum Mayor”, and the one in his right hand called for “No More Dictators at City Hall”.

Under that wording, Goyat had written, “Brampton Open For Residents Not Corruption!”.

At the bottom of the other placard criticizing the mayor, he wrote: "Do Your Job Not Corruption".

A vocal critic of Brown, Goyat recently helped expose an alarming property purchase by the City of Brampton pushed by the mayor, who demanded the acquisition of a former Alectra Utilities building at 175 Sandalwood Parkway for $78 million in 2023; after it had been sold by the public utility company three years earlier to a Brampton businessman Brown gave the citizen of the year award to, for $32.5 million. 

In the summer, Goyat provided documents to The Pointer detailing the unusual property transactions. Brown and City officials have refused to cooperate with details of the deal that were kept from the public. 

The Pointer is still investigating the matter, which has frustrated Goyat. He said his protest was an effort to call out “overall corruption” inside City Hall, and draw attention to other concerning issues including Brown’s handling of the City’s Residential Rental Licensing program.

The Brampton resident was arrested and charged with trespassing. He claims that because his demonstration remained non-violent—merely holding placards—the arrest violated his Charter rights. 

"We were not shouting; we were not yelling. We were not speaking a single word, just holding the banners," Goyat said in an interview with The Pointer. "They (City Security) told me to leave. I said, ‘No, we can't. We don't want to go because that's public property, and we have a right to peaceful protest. It's a civil liberty; you cannot remove us from the property.’ Then, they called the cops, and when they arrived, they warned me to leave the property. When I said no, they arrested me and issued a trespassing ticket."

The protest occurred during a live broadcast of CP24’s holiday interview with Santa Claus. Goyat, along with three others, stood behind the broadcast holding signs protesting Brown’s leadership and urging residents to “fight for your rights”. Goyat said the group was not interrupting the broadcast.

"They put four or five bikes in front of us. We were just standing. I told them that I have the right to protest peacefully, and I'm not disturbing anybody. I'm not making any nuisance.”  

Azad Goyat (top) was arrested following a demonstration at Garden Square protesting Mayor Patrick Brown’s leadership and alleged “corruption”.

(Supplied)

Goyat claimed the arrest was carried out at the behest of Mayor Brown, “because I am very vocal and I am not scared.” 

“This was a politically motivated action to silence my voice,” he said.

It’s a claim Brown’s office immediately denied. 

“Peel Police do not accept political input in operational decisions, nor would the mayor offer any,” Shawn Bubel, the Director of Communications for Brown, said.

The Pointer sent questions to Peel Police about the arrest, but did not receive a response. The City of Brampton also did not respond to requests for details about the reasons City security notified police about the small, peaceful protest. 

Brown did not directly respond when asked about Goyat's allegations that his arrest was politically motivated and that critics of the mayor are being silenced for raising concerns about corruption under his leadership.

"This is the one arrest; even 100 arrests cannot stop me. I'm speaking for the people. I was not standing there for myself. I was protesting for the people of Brampton,” Goyat said. 

Brown’s leadership in Brampton has repeatedly been marked with scandals that have sometimes motivated residents to express their concerns out in public.

(Canadian Sath TV)

In 2021 residents stood in Garden Square demanding accountability following sweeping allegations of widespread wrongdoing under former CAO David Barrick, who was handpicked by Brown despite his involvement in the high-profile “Inside Job” corruption scandal that had just engulfed Niagara Region.

Holding placards that read: “Fire David Barrick”; and “WAKE UP MAYOR BROWN STAND FOR THE TRUTH STOP MISUSING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY,” residents were calling for the removal of Barrick, after he was hired directly by Brown, who chaired the committee that recommended him, and defended his numerous controversies before his arrival in Brampton—Brown  made misleading claims about Barrick’s involvement in the Niagara scandal exposed by the Ontario Ombudsman.

Since Brown was sworn in as mayor, there have been ongoing governance issues, and a lack of transparency and accountability, culminating last term when a majority of Brampton Council members—Jeff Bowman, Martin Medeiros, Charmaine Williams, Gurpreet Dhillon, Doug Whillans and Pat Fortini—described Brown as an “authoritarian” leader. They warned that democracy in Brampton was “under siege” due to Brown’s alarming leadership.

Parts of the stunning 2022 letter signed by a majority of councillors.

A former senior staffer, Nikki Kaur, came forward with stunning allegations of corruption by Barrick and Brown before she was fired, then threatened a lawsuit against Brown and the City. 

Kaur provided damning evidence that Brown had ordered Brampton staff to campaign for Peter MacKay in 2020 when he sought the federal Conservative Party leadership.

Then Brown was caught opening up a City hockey arena during the pandemic so he and his friends could play pick-up games when the facility was supposed to be shut down. 

A series of shocking hiring decisions blatantly violated policies that had been in place, and an external investigation revealed widespread wrongdoing, despite Brown’s efforts to curtail the probe and his refusal to be interviewed for it. Eventually the Deloitte investigation into allegations of corruption was cut short and Brown was never interviewed.

After councillors accused Brown of trampling on the democratic process, making decisions behind closed doors, preventing the public from having insight into key decision-making about the use of their money, they eventually brought forward a sweeping series of investigations into hiring practices and procurements in 2022.

A preliminary investigation report showed Brown had handed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a friend, without council’s knowledge, as part of the failed Brampton University scheme. Reporting by The Pointer showed hundreds of thousands of dollars were handed to a friend of Brown and a friend of his main council ally, Rowena Santos, despite little to show for it.

One of the investigations was specifically probing the Brampton University scandal, which saw Brown and Councillor Rowena Santos exposed for handing more than $600,000 of taxpayer money to close friends and associates for the planning of a future university in the city that never materialized. 

As the investigations began to zero in on Brown, he cancelled all of them, when he had just enough votes due to councillor absences at the end of August, 2022. His shocking move was described as a “very high-level cover up” by the councillors who had ordered the external probes.

The Ontario Ombudsman directed Brown and his colleagues to restart the investigations, before Brown lied about what the Ombudsman had said.

The group of six councillors who had voted for the investigations wrote in a blistering public letter in 2022 that Brampton taxpayers were “at risk from financial and administrative mismanagement,” describing Brown as an “authoritarian dictator.” 

Mayor Patrick Brown and Councillor Rowena Santos. Friends and associates of theirs received hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for a university plan that never materialized.

(City of Brampton)

“The current council has had to manage damning allegations of wrongdoing in contract procurements, investigations of improper hiring practices, and concerns over discrimination,” the letter highlighted. “We can no longer continue to stay quiet,” they wrote, vowing to take legislative action to confront Brown’s alarming behaviour.

When the half-dozen external investigations they eventually launched, under the recommendation of Ontario’s Ombudsman, were later cancelled by Brown, it appeared he and his main council ally Councillor Rowena Santos—she was also singled out in the preliminary investigation report for helping a friend win a contract—were in a conflict when they voted to torpedo the probe which involved allegations against them. 

Then, in 2022, the Conservative Party of Canada disqualified Brown from its leadership race, alleging wrongdoing including payments to campaign workers that were not allowed and the use of funds to pay for new memberships. The matter is still being investigated by federal election authorities.

It had previously been revealed that Brown was secretly using City of Brampton staff to work on his federal campaign, which he had refused to explain.

All five members who voted to cancel the investigations, including Brown, are still on council: Santos, Harkirat Singh, Paul Vicente and Michael Palleschi. 

They were joined by new members after the 2022 municipal election and all of them have fallen in line with the mayor (councillors Martin Medeiros and Pat Fortini have at times tried to raise concerns since then, but have been unable to get motions passed with nine members, led by Brown, lined up against them). 

Ontario’s Ombudsman has tried to get council members to reopen the sweeping allegations, but has blatantly lied about the Ombudsman’s position, claiming the provincial watchdog cleared him and other officials of any wrongdoing. The provincial ombudsman stated in a letter that the investigations should be resumed to determine if wrongdoing had occurred. Brown has ignored the direction. 

One of the investigations he was implicated in, which he himself cancelled, was the Brampton University scandal, which saw Brown and Councillor Rowena Santos exposed for handing more than $600,000 of taxpayer money to close friends and associates for the planning of a future university in the city that never materialized. 

Goyat said Brampton residents need to vote Brown out next year, to save their city. He will continue to use his voice and said he is not intimidated by actions such as his recent arrest for “peacefully protesting” against a mayor who “has never cared about Brampton”.

“This was a politically motivated action to silence my voice.” 

Email: [email protected]

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you