The two Toronto residents who have pressed for a compliance audit of Mayor Rob Ford’s campaign spending have raised the legal stakes, recruiting prominent public law litigator Robert Centa, a veteran of the 2002 Toronto computer leasing inquiry, to provide pro bono advice as the dispute over election expenses moves into the courts.
Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler and Max Reed approached Mr. Centa about taking on the case after Mr. Ford’s lawyer, Thomas Barlow, appealed a May 13 decision by council’s compliance audit committee to move ahead with a review of the campaign’s books.
Mr. Centa is a partner with Paliare Roland LLP, and was a member of a team of lawyers from the firm that represented the city during the so-called Bellamy inquiry, which probed the links between lobbyists, some city bureaucrats, a computer leasing firm and former budget chair Tom Jakobek. More recently, Mr. Centa served as assistant commission counsel for the 2007 Goudge inquiry into pediatric forensic pathology, which focused on the findings of Charles Smith.
“It’s an important case,” he said, lauding Mr. Barlow’s expertise. “We think the interests of justice are best served when both sides have good counsel.”
The two men have questioned more than $77,000 in campaign expenses paid by Doug Ford Holdings, as well as other costs for a kick-off event incurred before Mr. Ford registered his candidacy. None of the allegations have been proven and the mayor has said he complied with the rules.
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