The Ottawa Election Compliance Audit Committee met on Wednesday, August 28, to discuss whether Horizon Ottawa broke the Municipal Elections Act of 1996 in relation to campaign finance regulations.
The five-member committee is responsible for voting to determine whether the City of Ottawa should pursue legal proceedings against Horizon Ottawa. Chair Timothy Cullen reminded the board that if the decision is made to pursue legal action, it does not mean that a contravention of the Elections Act has occurred; an Ontario Court makes that determination. The Election Compliance Audit Committee’s case will be turned over to a special prosecutor. Cullen also reminded the board that the hearing was inquisitorial, not prosecutorial.
During the 2022 municipal election, the group Horizon Ottawa, fronted by local activist Sam Hersh, actively endorsed and campaigned for candidates in both the Council and Mayoral election, endorsing candidates including Laura Shantz of Ottawa Transit Riders who ran in the Rideau-Vanier, rookie candidates College Ward Councillor Laine Johnson, Knoxdale Merivale Councilor Sean Devine, and Somerset ward Councillor Ariel Troster, as well as veteran Councillor Shawn Menard. The group also backed candidate Catherine McKenney in their run for the city’s highest office. Horizon Ottawa actively campaigned on social media and in person for these candidates, holding an event titled “Horizon Fest,” which invited the candidates to speak to attendees in what could be viewed as a festive atmosphere.
An audit found that Horizon Ottawa had violated the Election Act by accepting contributions outside of the active election campaign advertising period from August 28, 2022, until January 1, 2023, making these contributions ineligible under the Municipal Elections Act.
The committee could not verify that contribution limits were adhered to and that receipts were appropriately issued. Their report states: “Horizon Ottawa collected ineligible contributions which were not collected by the contributor or turned over to the clerk,” contravening campaign finance rules. Additionally, the audit concluded that proper campaign finance records had not been kept, contravening the Municipal Elections Act.
John George Pappas of Aird & Burlus LLP spoke for their client, Edward Phillips, who requested the campaign finance audit of Horizon Ottawa. Pappas asked that the committee proceed with the prosecution against Horizon Ottawa. Pappas also pointed out that Horizon Ottawa had distributed posters for Horizon Fest before it was registered as a third-party advertiser, saying that this was early campaigning that the report missed. Pappas stated, “For an organization that seeks accountability and transparency in local government, these standards also need to apply to it.”
Pappas said that violations of the third party act regarding financing need to be taken seriously and pointed out that Horizon Ottawa’s board knew it had to register as a third party and had a discussion on doing so as an advertiser in advance of the campaign period but chose not to, even though it began incurring campaign expenses before later registering. Pappas also pointed out that several endorsed candidates won in their wards and concluded that the committee should authorize a prosecution.
Representing Horizon Ottawa, Sam Hersh and lawyer Emilie Taman. Taman told the committee, “It would have been open to Horizon Ottawa to endorse specific candidates so long as it did not incur expenses in relation to that promotion.” Taman continued by stating that Horizon Ottawa registered itself in the interest of transparency in the lead-up to Horizon Fest, where candidates the organization had endorsed would be speaking. However, Taman pointed out that although the group intended to have the event, it did not initially intend to partake in any regulated campaign activities.
Furthermore, Taman argued that intent matters and that the group had not spent money on campaign-related expenses until after registering as a third-party advertiser. Putting the findings of the financial violations down to misunderstanding and intent, Taman argued that it is inconceivable that the organization would face punishment. Taman concluded her remarks by stating that Horizon Ottawa has conducted itself with a “high degree of transparency and integrity,” and any departure of regulations was done in good faith.
Following the hearings from the plaintiff and the accused, the committee went into closed deliberation to determine whether to proceed with legal action. After nearly two and a half hours, the group decided to proceed with legal action against Horizon Ottawa. In the recommendation statement, Cullen stated that the public interest was best served by commencing legal proceedings against Horizon Ottawa.
Sam Hersh released a statement via the group’s mailing list within an hour of the decision, stating, “This has been nothing more than a fishing expedition started by someone who disagrees with Horizon Ottawa’s vision and mission. This process should not be weaponized by the wealthy and well-connected in our city to interfere with legitimate, transparent, democratic participation.”
Regarding the specific allegations, Hersh wrote: “We maintain that we acted with transparency and integrity throughout the 2022 election. We diligently prepared a financial return, underwent an audit by our own independent auditor and fully participated in the audit by the city-appointed auditor. As the report shows, there was never any attempt to obfuscate the nature of our revenues or expenditures or to characterize transactions in a particular way to gain an advantage.”