Story updated to include comments from a Brampton City council member.
Toronto’s mayor said Wednesday there is a “mountain of evidence” of corruption that revealed “reprehensible behaviour,” but local officials in the city’s east end refuted what he had to say.
The mayor of Brampton, Ont., told a Toronto radio station that local officials in the city’s east end disputed what he had to say, describing the probe as “another witch hunt.”
Justin DiCocco called Mayor Patrick Brown’s remarks “outrageous,” comparing the report he had to read, which he said read like an “oppressive script” for a Hollywood movie, to the time he watched “Gone with the Wind.”
“The mayor and the senior executives have been vindicated, and these councillors are not,” DiCocco said.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said Wednesday night he had requested a city inspector visit Brampton to review allegations and review how the city responded to the allegations.
City’s director denies corruption
Meanwhile, city officials denied there was any kind of corruption or abuse of power. In a statement, Deputy Mayor Spadina Thomson had called the story a “whirlpool of innuendo and untruths.”
“I strongly reject the allegations presented in this report,” Thomson said. “We have exercised tremendous openness and integrity in managing our administration.”
She was quick to point out the city has not yet been reached by the Office of the Independent City Auditor.
The Citizen newspaper first reported on Wednesday that many of the 10 current and former executives have been identified by name, along with specific allegations against them. The details surrounding the various allegations surrounding the employees were not released in detail.
The newspaper reported that one city employee, a mid-level bureaucrat, left her position after an email exchange with a city councilor and is said to have recently been told that she would not receive a new job offer.