Current Brampton Regional Councillor Wards 9/10.
The alleged sexual harassment took place outside of Canada, hence it was out of the jurisdiction of local police. The complainant did report the crime to Peel Regional Police.
We don’t know her and can’t speculate on her reasons, however there are many barriers that prevent people from coming forward from shame to guilt to embarrassment to fear of repercussions. She did make reports to local and other authorities and through her lawyer participated in the investigation and other processes to try to seek justice.
3 Ontario Superior Court Justices ruled almost entirely successfully in favour of the Integrity Commissioner and the City of Brampton. In response to Councillor Dhillon’s legal challenge, they ruled that the Integrity Commissioner:
1) did properly commenced the investigation
2) did not deny him of procedural fairness
3) findings were reasonable
4) and that 3 of 4 recommended penalties were upheld (they allowed him to communicate beyond just email)
The Superior Court stated: ‘In terms of the issues, the focus of the material and oral argument, the City and the Integrity Commissioner were almost entirely successful, except for one minor aspect..’ [103]
The Office of the Integrity Commissioner does not pick sides and is independent of City Council and City Staff. As of March 1, 2019, all Ontario municipalities are required to appoint an Integrity Commissioner.* (Brampton.ca). Amongst other responsibilities, they apply municipal procedures, rules, and policies governing the ethical behavior of members.
The Office of the Integrity Commissioner does not pick sides and is independent of City Council and City Staff. As of March 1, 2019, all Ontario municipalities are required to appoint an Integrity Commissioner.* (Brampton.ca). Amongst other responsibilities, they apply municipal procedures, rules, and policies governing the ethical behavior of members.From Integrity Commissioner Report: “As they left the lobby area, Councillor Dhillon entered the elevator with the Complainant. When the Complainant exited the elevator onto her floor, she noticed that Councillor Dhillon exited with her. She assumed that perhaps Councillor Dhillon’s hotel room was on the same floor as hers. Instead, as Councillor Dhillon and the Complainant were chatting, Councillor Dhillon entered her hotel room with her. The Complainant viewed Councillor Dhillon as a respected public official and did not assume anything negative. She provided him with a bottle of water and he sat down?”
Even after the victim got Dhillon to leave, he attempted to return by knocking on her door:
“After Councillor Dhillon left the Complainant’s room, he returned to her door and began knocking at her door while waiting there for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The Complainant opened the door and Councillor Dhillon said, “I just want to know if you are okay?”. The Complainant responded, “I need to take a shower”. Approximately 15 minutes after that, somebody else knocked on the Complainant’s door. When she looked through the peephole, she noticed it was a male who was holding an iron but was hiding his face. The Complainant did not open the door and put a chair behind the door for extra safety.” – Integrity Report
From the integrity commissioners report: “While Councillor Dhillon had his back towards the Complainant, the Complainant quickly went to her phone and called an individual by the name of Ahmet, whom she had met earlier during her trip through a Turkish lawyer named Nursel Atar (“Ms. Atar”). The Complainant called Ahmet twice, however, when he did not pick up, she texted him. At that point, the Complainant pressed the record button on her phone and began to record the remainder of the encounter between herself and Councillor Dhillon.”
We feel what Councillor Dhillon did was wrong not only as a human being but especially as an elected official. We feel very badly for the Complainant (survivor). We feel ignoring such acts would send a strong wrong message especially to the younger generation that doing things like this are ok and it won’t affect you or your career. Also, we feel many people don’t know the facts about this incident.
The Integrity Commissioner:
‘members of Council are rightly held to a higher standard when looking at professional and appropriate behaviour.’ pg.45 , Integrity Commissioner’s Report (2020)
Vote and get others out to vote. Here is the map of wards 9/10 Spread the message. Send this website out to others. Share, tweet, join the movement.
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No- we are not, but rather raising awareness about what Councilor Dhillon has done.
No. See below.
Ontario Superior Court of Justice (2021) stated:
‘Councillor Dhillon submits that the only meaningful participation he could offer was a letter denying the allegations. I do not agree.’ [51], Ontario Superior Court of Justice (2021)
Integrity Commissioner Report (2020) stated:
‘In refusing to meet with me, he acted as an obstructionist in my investigation, rather than cooperating with me’ pg.43, Integrity Commissioner’s Report (2020)
‘I also note that the Policy requires Elected Officials to “cooperate with investigations of harassment to resolve issues”. Councillor Dhillon failed to cooperate with my investigation’ pg.43, Integrity Commissioner’s Report (2020)
The Complainant said ‘no’ to Councillor Dhillon 74 times. See below.
‘…it is very clear how vigorously the Complainant was refusing Councillor Dhillon while he was trying to force himself on her…The Courtomplainant said “no” a total of 74 times.’ Pg.39, Integrity Commissioner’s Report (2020)
Council voted 10-0 to give the harshest penalty they could prescribe. Among other things, they suspended him with no pay for 90 days. They also removed him from committees, remove his ability to travel outside of Ontario on any City business, restricted his ability to communicate with public (only to communicate by email) and prevent him from access to municipal offices with a few exceptions.
We find one big thing is that there is misinformation about this incident and so this website aims to share the facts and official documents.