August25,2015

TO:

Election Services
City of Toronto

FR:

RE:

Investigation and Compliance Audit of Campaign Expenses

of Councillor Mark Grimes

Questions Arising ...

In support of my submission to the Compliance Audit Committee, I would like to urge
that the following issues and questions be investigated.
1. Given that $7,293.51 in brochure expenses is claimed, but invoices for only
$3,222.00 have been submitted, what happened to the other invoices?
2. An invoice suggests that $1,610.00 was paid for 30,000 of an 11 x 17, full-colour
brochure titled "Revitalizing the Lakeshore". but independent quotes that I
solicited come in at $9,800. and $6,403. Why did Mr. Grimes printer charge so
little? Is it possible that the invoice is a fake to mask a much higher cost? Would
that not implicate the printer in election fraud?
3. The Mr. Grimes brochures are large (four are 4-page, 8.5 x 11 ), colourful and
well-designed. Who did the design, layout and camera-ready proofs, and why
was this cost not included in the disclosure? If the printer did the layout, would
that not have significantly increased the cost?
4. It might be argued that three of the brochures include small announcements
about a fundraising event and therefore can be ignored as campaign expenses.
However, given that these blurbs take up less than 3% of the flyers' area, and the
Elections Act specifies that such campaign literature much be expensed, is it not
obvious that the cost of these pieces must be included?
5. Who distributed Mark Mr. Grimes' literature and at what cost? Can the records of
Canada Post and distribution companies be accessed if Mr. Grimes campaign
denies that he paid for distribution?
6. Is it believable that the partners in Fifth Ground Entertainment created 45 videos
at minimal cost including professional shooting, editing, post-production and
internet uploading over many weeks of the campaign? If not, what was paid
and who paid the bill - for these services? Where did that money come from?
7. I have made the case, based on a price iist, that the $113. expensed for the John
Tory robocalls would cover only approximately 1,000 calls, and that appears
improbable. Can the robocall company be questioned and asked to provide

auditors with all invoices pertaining to the Ward 6 campaign? Is it possible that
Mayor Tory's campaign covered the real cost of most of that project?
8. How many trucks, festooned with Mr. Grimes signs, drove up and down main
streets in the final week of the campaign, and at what cost? Why was this
expense, like four of seven pieces of literature, not even mentioned in the
disclosure?
9. Given that major election campaigns, in my 40-year experience, always have
paid staff, why is this item a big zero in Mr. Grimes disclosure? In addition to
James Maloney, apparently Mr. Grimes campaign manager, being employed
practically full time along with Sheila Paxton, we have been informed that Mr.
Grimes Constituency Assistant, Jackie Whiting, appears to have worked on the
campaign extensively during city hall business hours. She tweeted and used
lnstagram frequently to talk up her boss's electoral hopes and was seen on Ward
6 streets on numerous occasions. Can these people, along with Mr. Grimes sign
crew, be questioned about the extent of their involvement and the way that they
were recompensed?
10. Many questions about fundraising and campaign revenue arise from my analysis
of what I see as Mr. Grimes overspending. Most important, if he did spend over
$100,000. and his fundraising netted the quite considerable amount of $77,349.
where did the additional money come from, and why is it not acknowledged in the
fundraising report? Who are the additional donors?
11 . Mr. Grimes lists a $10,000. cost for an MEvent Coordinatorff. Can this person be
questioned to determine what he or she did to warrant such a substantial fee?
How much was raised from that event? Was this person also part of the
campaign team, working on day-to-day organization, so should all or part of this
cost be included within the limit?