North Toronto Auction is requesting the town of Innisfil’s integrity commissioner investigate councillor Kevin Eisses for comments he made in response to another complaint last year.
In 2019, North Toronto Auction filed a complaint against councillor Kevin Eisses, alleging the councillor acted in favour of a neighbouring company when the councillor moved a recommendation to pass a parking bylaw at a June 26, 2019 council meeting.
The town’s integrity commissioner, Aird & Berlis LLP, submitted a report on the complaint investigation to council at its Dec. 11, 2019 meeting, finding that Eisses did not contravene the town’s code of conduct.
As part of that investigation, Eisses submitted a written response to the integrity commissioner. North Toronto Auction’s latest complaint focuses on that written response.
The business argues Eisses made “abusive and insulting” and “untrue” written statements about North Toronto Auction in his response, and that the comments constitute a reprisal against the business for making the complaint.
“The integrity commissioner decision, which cleared Eisses of any wrongdoing, was based on all sorts of incorrect facts,” alleged Debbie Panza, who made the complaint on behalf of the owners of North Toronto Auction. “I will fight until this wrong has been corrected.”
Eisses wrote in an email that North Toronto Auction had the opportunity to respond to his written statements during the integrity commissioner report process that took place in 2019.
“These comments were my own analysis of the parking situation and were in no ways untrue. They were written to explain the reasons that the parking bylaw should be changed at the time,” he said, adding that the comments were not made as a public statement about North Toronto Auction’s business.
“If North Toronto had issues with their validity, the proper time to voice that was during the process, not months and months after the report was completed. The report from the integrity commissioner cleared me of any wrongdoing. This second attempt by North Toronto has no basis of facts and in my opinion, will not start another investigation.”
A representative from Aird & Berlis LLP stated that they could not comment at this time, due to duty of confidentiality under the municipal act.
Shane MacDonald, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Barrie Advance
