TSN’s Montreality: The report on corruption in Brampton

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“I’ve had a huge toll this summer in the community. And now I’m literally taken away from the community,” Maxime Bernier, MP for Beauce, said during a press conference Friday in Brampton.

City officials claim at least seven of the 15 former employees implicated in the report will not face discipline for their alleged behaviour.

All of the 30 individuals who reportedly misused city resources for political gain have resigned, are no longer employed with the City of Brampton or have provided information that led to the investigation.

“It’s a travesty of justice,” Bernier said.

One of the cities former media relations directors is also facing legal action, and Brampton police are probing former CEO Shane Cashman for alleged breach of trust.

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“There is no wrongdoing and this report proves it,” Bernier added.

Bernier shared details from documents he obtained, showing the city’s director of communications allegedly falsified his time sheets.

“You can tell by my tone, as I’m listening, that it is not a satisfying feeling to hear that you can’t believe the credibility of documents which have been doctored,” Bernier said.

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However, the city director of communications, Brad Katsuyama, who was promoted in the wake of the scandal, is defending the investigation which was conducted by a private investigator hired by the city.

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During a press conference Friday, Katsuyama said only the alleged actions of one individual were under the investigation and that the report is “almost the complete picture” of what happened during his time with the city.

Katsuyama said he also has hard evidence that is “somehow interfering with” what investigators have already made public.

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“I have documentation to go with it.”

In a statement Friday, City Manager Chris Tatar said the city has worked with the government agency tasked with holding the investigation, the company that used the investigation, the anonymous whistleblower and a forensic accountant to compile the report.

“I know this report is not the complete story,” he said.

WATCH: Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey has spoken out on the ongoing scandal surrounding former City employees.

The mayor added that when she first heard about the investigation, she felt “vindicated.”

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“I see this report at the very least as a proof that political meddling has no place in the City of Brampton, where we do things by the book,” she said.

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Rona Ambrose, a former Member of Parliament for Halton Hills, called the report’s findings a “hoax.”

“Whatever shenanigans the public was led to believe, they don’t exist,” Ambrose said on Friday.

“There is a serious problem in Brampton right now, but there is also a serious problem in Ottawa because the political leadership there are doing nothing.”

Ontario’s privacy commissioner is investigating whether the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner erred in finding that the city’s mayor withheld information about the investigation from cabinet.

In the past month, the mayor and the city’s top bureaucrat both stood down from their respective jobs following the release of the damning report in July.

The investigation revealed widespread misuse of city resources, including hiring and promotions and the granting of contracts based on political pressure.

It was also alleged that councillors met in private to discuss pending decisions, including a decision to hire a public relations firm to provide marketing services to an organization directed by a mayoral candidate.

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Watch: Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner is investigating whether the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner erred in finding that the mayor and his staff withheld information about the investigation from cabinet.

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