Election donations case postponed again
December 26, 2005

The pre-trial of 18 corporations charged for allegedly providing illegal campaign donations to Mayor Larry Di Ianni has been postponed for the fifth time. The next appearance is now scheduled for February 10, nearly nine months after charges were laid on May 17 by Dundas bookseller Joanna Chapman.

Seventeen of the companies are accused of donating more than the legal limit of $750 each to the mayor's 2003 election campaign. The eighteenth is charged with being ineligible to make donations because it is not incorporated.

Chapman fought an eight-month court battle to force Hamilton city council to conduct a compliance audit of the campaign finances of the mayor and two defeated candidates. Senior regional Justice Timothy Culver ordered the audit in a decision handed down a week before Chapman's charges against the mayor's donors were filed.

Di Ianni has acknowledged that he received more than the legal limit from the companies and has issued refund cheques to each of them. In court hearings earlier this year, Di Ianni's lawyer repeatedly argued that the donors violated the Municipal Elections Act, but that the mayor could only be charged if he failed to return the donations after he became aware of them.

An official of at least one of the charged companies agreed. Ellie Voortman told the Hamilton Spectator in February that "the mayor didn't make the mistake, we made the mistake." Similarly in May, spokesmen for Effort Trust and St. Lawrence Cement acknowledged the over-donations but said it was unintentional.

Despite the admissions that the provincial elections legislation was violated, Ontario's Attorney General has refused to take over the prosecution of the 18 charged companies. Instead, Chapman's lawyer Eric Gillespie is acting as the prosecutor, and Chapman is footing the bill.

The legislation also requires charges to be laid within one year of when the complainant learned of the alleged violations. The eighteen companies represent only one-third of the corporate and individual donors who apparently over-contributed to Di Ianni's campaign. Chapman says she only charged these 18 because the time limitation was running out. Other charges could be laid after the compliance audit is completed.

The first court appearance took place on July 5 where it was announced that a trial date would be set on August 10. That appearance was cancelled and replaced with September 14 when October 26 was identified as the day "to fix a trial date". That also didn't happen. The postponement to February means the court case won't begin until six weeks after candidates can legally begin raising monies for next November's muncipal elections. Individuals wishing to run for office can register at the beginning of January.

The charged companies are A. Desantis Developments Ltd., A. Desantis Real Estate Ltd., Dival Developments Ltd., Doral Property Management, The Effort Trust Company, Fifty Road Joint Ventures Inc., Fortran Traffic Systems, Homelife Effect Realty Inc., J. Voortman and Associates, LIUNA Station, Losani Homes (1998) Ltd., Sahar's Hospitality Inc., St. Lawrence Cement Inc., Starward Homes Management Ltd., Tender Choice Foods Inc., TCG Asphalt and Construction, Venetor Equipment Rental Inc., and 456941 Ontario Ltd.