Patrick Brown charged Brampton taxpayers in social media posts of CPC leadership campaign – Toronto

A new document, obtained by The Pointer through a Freedom of Information Request, shows that Patrick Brown has been criticized for social media posts used in his federal campaign while he was running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. of taxpayers.

This appears to violate federal election law, which prohibits candidates from charging third parties for certain costs, or permits certain costs by third parties only if they are registered. In this case, the City of Brampton covered the costs, which appears to have violated rules prohibiting local governments from supporting political campaigns.

After Brown ran for the CPC leadership in March, Brown’s social media costs charged to the city increased tenfold, according to expense reports. His use of social his media when he was running for leadership his race for his CPC was mostly for campaign purposes. Documents show that at least some of the costs were billed to the city under his role as mayor.

1:53
Brampton City Council urges Ford government not to give Patrick Brown strong mayoral powers

Social media spending in Brown’s office increased from $9,880.76 for the entirety of 2021 to $16,943 in March and April of 2022 alone, according to expense statements. Meanwhile, Brown was campaigning to become his CPC leader paid by SolarIT Solutions.

An additional $11,448 was paid out in July, bringing the total paid to social media during the CPC campaign to $28,391. Brown was charged on July 5 with violating federal election law by allegedly using third parties to pay campaign staff and using serial money orders to pay dues that were supposed to be paid by individuals joining the party. He was disqualified from the election on the same day.

Mississauga-based SolarIT Solutions, led by Srinikant Pannaservam, set up Brown’s social media campaign to promote posts and collect comments, impressions, reviews, and more, according to an invoice obtained by The Pointer under the FOI. was paid through Brown’s mayor’s expense account to monitor the social campaign activities of .

The company tracked engagement data on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, created posts, and invested in paid promotions for Brown’s posts. He also meets with the “communications team” to provide content analysis and schedule other social media campaigns.

This includes content and copywriting for advertising campaigns and posts, as well as keyword and target audience strategy to increase engagement.

2:04
Patrick Brown seeks re-election as Brampton mayor

According to a bill to the mayor’s office included in the FOI document, a June 11 post written by SolarIT said, “COVID travel restrictions affecting unvaccinated Canadians have caused people to was used. This appears to be the description used in the invoice, and does not include the entire social his media post written by the company.

The phrase “COVID travel restrictions affecting unvaccinated Canadians caused people” only relates to one post that appeared word-for-word on Twitter on Brown’s account, an election ad for the CPC doing. About how COVID travel restrictions affecting unvaccinated Canadians have caused people to miss visiting dying relatives, forget to meet new grandchildren and lose their jobs.

This shouldn’t happen in Canada—it hasn’t been and never will be. ”

A quoted photo was attached: “Look, as an ambitious prime minister, let me say this. Your vaccine status is not my business,” and his CPC election campaign website fighterleaderwinner. Link to ca.

According to a bill to the Mayor’s Office included in the FOI document, a post written by SolarIT on April 5 states: Road safety is our top priority. And commutation to death sentences should be reviewed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Canada needs criminal justice reform and it’s time to put victims first. This was in Vaughan after an incident in which his teenage driver hit and killed a brother and sister who were playing on the side of a driveway.

Beneath the post’s words, Brown added, “Canada needs criminal justice reform. It’s time to put victims first.”

According to SolarIT’s bill to the Mayor’s Office, when Brown was running for leadership of the CPC in April, the company’s work included his posts on the Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act and “Fighting Cancellation Culture.” It contained a post about

As Brown returned to Brampton after traveling across the country at the CPC leadership campaign event, he tweeted: SolarIT wrote on Brown’s social his media on April 3, according to the company’s bill to the mayor’s office:

Brown has not responded to The Pointer’s questions on his social media, the dramatic increase in costs since attending CPC races and who is paying for them.

When Mr. Brown announced his candidacy for the CPC in March, after “the media tried to tarnish me with false claims to force me to cancel the latest victim of culture, I fought back and won.” told supporters not to believe what they might have heard.

This was a reference to a legal battle with CTV after it published an article about two young women who accused Brown of sexual misconduct. The legal battle ended when CTV corrected the age of one of her accusers to 19 at the time of the alleged encounter, a denial that Brown denied.

The allegations are still valid and the CTV story was never dropped.

Brown’s use of city funds to pay for social media campaigns while seeking leadership of the CPC appears to be against the law. Canadian federal election law requires that anyone who spends $500 or more on election advertising be registered as a third party.

In municipalities, costs incurred to promote a political party or candidate in an election campaign cannot be funded by taxpayers using public funds.

Social media spending isn’t the only expense the Browns have flagged. The opposition mayoral campaign team said more than $15,000 of the city’s funds went to consulting after a consulting firm charged Brown’s mayor’s office in September. I question why it was used to pay the company.

At Brampton, the use of Council Members’ consultants is an ineligible expense. Daisy Consulting Group, the company that billed Brown’s office in September for more than $15,000 for consulting services, said Brown was not the first Brampton mayor the company worked for, but former mayor Susan Fennell. There is no indication or public record that Fennell violated an expense policy that prohibits city council members from billing consulting services to the city council’s expense account. If she used her services consulting, it was likely paid for by her campaign.

The City’s Mayor’s and Alderman’s Expense Policy expressly prohibits payments for:

Daisy Consulting, led by president Warren Kinsella, told Poynter that no work was charged to Mayor Brown’s office in connection with the campaign and that the company “will take legal action against anyone who suggests otherwise.” I am ready to teach,” he said.

Brown and his office responded to a question asking if they could provide a detailed description of the work done by Daisy Consulting Group, the company named on Brown’s September expense statement released by the city. Is not.

Brown also did not respond to questions about Justice Risk Solutions.

City Hall documents show that Brampton taxpayers paid $180,800 to a third-party firm, Justice Risk Solutions, a niche insurance company for law firms.

Winkler defended Brown in a lawsuit against CTV following allegations of sexual misconduct and a lawsuit filed against Brown by Senior PC MPP Vic Fedeli after the release of his full memoir in 2018. defended him with

The City’s Mayor’s and Alderman’s Expenses Policy prohibits payment for legal advice, stating that “eligible expenses for aldermen include professional services and advice, such as legal and planning advice and services, or other It does not include any costs of City policy and council handbook? ”

It is unclear why Brown’s social media, legal, and consulting fees were approved.

Many rules have been broken since Brown became mayor. David Barrick, a former CAO brought to Brampton by Brown, hired senior staff who were unqualified and did not meet the job posting requirements. . The FOI process has been illegally removed from Council oversight. Independent investigator Froese Forensic Partners found violations of procurement and contracting rules, including in one of his contracts given to a friend of Brown’s. These are just some of the issues of lack of accountability that Mr. Brown has wrestled with within city hall since he took office four years before he was mayor.