Two potential mayoral candidates have very different responses to a notice from the city clerk about violating campaign rules.
After receiving public complaints, Cathy Saunders sent an email to both Paul Paolatto and Paul Cheng, reminding them that the Municipal Elections Act prohibits any sort of campaigning until the day the nomination period opens, which in this case is May 1, 2018.
“We have been accused but I ask the accuser, what section of the act did I contravene?” Cheng told 980 CFPL.
“It says, ‘We discourage you from saying: vote, campaign, for mayor. And we prohibit you from raising money.’ We have not done any of that.”
Cheng added that he has no plans to change his approach, which includes television advertisements criticizing the city’s bus rapid transit plans. He also questioned the city’s priorities.
“If one person files a complaint and the city is willing to send – I don’t know what kind of letter it is – but they’re willing to send a letter out, but there are many citizens who complain about many other things that we never get action on. I guess it’s a selective letter campaign.”
Paolatto, meantime, told 980 CFPL he has no regrets about the roughly $15,000 of his own money he spent on billboard and bus shelter advertisements promoting his blog. He said he consulted with Saunders beforehand and was sure to avoid the word “mayor” altogether.
Still, he said he would cease advertising in the meantime.
“The fact that this concern came from a complainant or a group of people – I want to respect that,” he told 980 CFPL.
“If somebody feels uncomfortable with my advertising my blog then I want to be mindful of that. But, I’m not going to stop sharing my ideas with Londoners; that’s a nonstarter for me.”
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