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Case information

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35266

Paul Magder v. Robert Ford

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2013-06-24 Close file on Leave
2013-06-21 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2013-06-21 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2013-06-20 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Number 560/12, 2013 ONSC 263, dated January 25, 2013, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2013-05-21 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, (revised from M to Cr), F Ro Cro
2013-04-25 Correspondence received from, Alan Lenczner re: response to letter from CCLA Robert Ford
2013-04-24 Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, Canadian Liberties Association re: response to opinion
2013-04-22 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2013-04-22 Paul Magder
2013-04-22 Supplemental document, Costs Endorsement from the Superior Court Paul Magder
2013-04-17 Correspondence received, Nathalie Des Rosiers re:Opinion of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association's
2013-04-12 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Form 25B missing (rec'd April 15/13), Completed on: 2013-04-16 Robert Ford
2013-03-18 Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal and without formal Court of Appeal order
2013-03-15 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Final CA order missing - draft included in the application (rec'd on Mar 20/13) (amended form 25A rec'd on March 19/13), Completed on: 2013-04-25 Paul Magder
2013-03-15 Book of authorities, (Book Form) Paul Magder

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Magder, Paul Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Ford, Robert Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Magder, Paul

Counsel
Names
Clayton C. Ruby
Nader Hasan
Contact information
Ruby Shiller Chan Hasan
11 Prince Arthur Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M5R 1B2
Telephone: (416) 964-9664
FAX: (416) 964-8305
Email: ruby@rubyshiller.com
Agent
Name
Raija Pulkkinen
Contact information
Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP
500 - 30 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5L4
Telephone: (613) 235-5327
FAX: (613) 235-3041
Email: rpulkkinen@sgmlaw.com

Party: Ford, Robert

Counsel
Names
Alan J. Lenczner, Q.C.
Andrew Parley
Contact information
Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP
2600 - 130 Adelaide St. W.
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3P5
Telephone: (416) 865-3090
FAX: (416) 865-9010
Email: alenczner@litigate.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Municipal law — Council members — Conflict of interest — Disqualification — Pecuniary interest — City’s Integrity Commissioner issued report to Council concluding that Mayor breached Code of Conduct for Members of Council by using City logo, status as City Councillor and City resources to solicit donations for private foundation he created — Commissioner recommended that Council require Mayor to reimburse donations — Mayor spoke and voted on matter at Council meeting — Application judge found Mayor contravened Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA) in doing so and declared Mayor’s seat vacant — Appeal allowed because Council did not have jurisdiction to impose reimbursement as penalty — Whether application judge erred in finding that Mayor contravened MCIA — Whether Mayor making improper collateral attack on Council decision requiring Mayor to reimburse donations — Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50.

On August 12, 2010, the City of Toronto’s Integrity Commissioner issued a report to Council concluding that Mr. Ford (then a member of Council), breached the Code of Conduct for Members of Council by using the City of Toronto logo, his status as a City Councillor, and City of Toronto resources to solicit donations for a private football foundation he created in his name. The Integrity Commissioner recommended that Council require Mr. Ford to reimburse $3,150 in donations made by lobbyist and corporate donors and provide confirmation of such reimbursement to the Integrity Commissioner. Although Council adopted the Integrity Commissioner’s report and recommendations on August 25, 2010 in Decision CC 52.1, Mr. Ford did not comply. The Integrity Commissioner issued a report to Council on January 30, 2012, in which she recommended that Council adopt a recommendation that Mr. Ford provide proof of reimbursement as required by the Council decision on or before March 6, 2012. The resolution came before Council on February 7, 2012. Mr. Ford was present and he spoke to the matter. A Councillor then made a motion to rescind Council’s August 25, 2010 Decision CC 52.1. Mr. Ford did not speak to this motion, but he did vote on it. The motion was carried by a vote of 22-12. The effect was that Council rescinded Decision CC 52.1 and Mr. Ford was no longer required to repay any money to donors. The Applicant, Mr. Magder, alleges that Mr. Ford contravened s. 5(1) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50 (MCIA), when he voted on the matter. The application judge agreed and declared Mr. Ford’s seat as Mayor vacant. The Divisional Court, however, disagreed and allowed the Mr. Ford’s appeal.

Lower court rulings

November 26, 2012
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-12-448487, 2012 ONSC 5615

Application for order that Mayor contravened Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and declaration that Mayor’s seat vacant granted

January 25, 2013
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

560/12, 2013 ONSC 263

Appeal allowed, order set aside and application dismissed

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613-996-8666 or at 1-844-365-9662.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613-996-8666 or at 1-844-365-9662.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613-996-8666 or at 1-844-365-9662.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-02-27