Justin Di Ciano
Justin Di Ciano | |
|---|---|
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 5 (Etobicoke—Lakeshore) | |
| In office December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | James Maloney |
| Succeeded by | Mark Grimes |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Real Estate Investment Manager |
Justin Di Ciano (/ˌdɪtʃiˈænoʊ/ DITCH-ee-AN-oh, Italian: [di ˈtʃaːno]) is a Canadian politician, who represented former Ward 5 (Etobicoke—Lakeshore) on Toronto City Council as a councillor for the years 2014–2018.[1]
Early career
Di Ciano worked as a manager for Gross Securities, a Toronto real estate investment firm,[1] and was active in the community as a cofounder of the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women's Empowerment and as a director of the Toronto Ribfest.[1]
Political career
Di Ciano first ran for Ward 5 in the 2010 election, losing narrowly to incumbent councillor Peter Milczyn.[1]
Again, running in Ward 5 for the 2014 Toronto municipal election, Di Ciano won the popular vote, beating out runner-up Kinga Surma who later ran and won as an MPP in the 2018 Ontario general election.
On March 8, 2018 the Toronto Star first reported that Di Ciano was being investigated by the OPP's anti-racket's branch, known for investigating enterprise crime and complex fraud, for "potential violations of the Municipal Elections Act."[2] On November 16, 2018 the OPP charged Di Ciano along with Mark Grimes for allegedly filing false campaign expenses for the 2014 municipal elections, contrary to the Municipal Elections Act.[3][4] On February 24, 2020 the charge was withdrawn by the Crown prosecutor. Assistant Crown attorney Michael Wilson told the media in possession of evidence to suggest that, during the 2014 Toronto municipal election, the campaign of Justin Di Ciano received the benefit of polling data from a company called Campaign Research that was not claimed on his financial statement-auditor's report" but “the Crown is not in a position to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Justin Di Ciano personally requested or received this data or that he deliberately failed to report the receipt of that data when filing”.[5][6]
As a result of the ward boundary changes imposed on the City of Toronto by the Ontario Provincial Government in 2018 Ward 5 and Ward 6 were consolidated to make a new larger Ward 3. DiCiano announced he would not seek re-election in the larger new Ward during the 2018 Toronto municipal election.[7]
Electoral record
2014
| 2014 Toronto election, Ward 5[8] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Di Ciano | 15,362 | 54.2 |
| Kinga Surma | 3,936 | 13.9 |
| Guy Bowie | 2,744 | 9.7 |
| Walter Melnyk | 1,399 | 4.9 |
| Raymond Desilets | 1,365 | 4.8 |
| Tony D'Aversa | 1,307 | 4.6 |
| Nikola Samac | 1,019 | 3.6 |
| Magda Chelminska | 645 | 2.3 |
| George Lehto | 565 | 1.9 |
| Total | 28,342 | 100 |
2010
| 2010 Toronto election, Ward 5[9] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Milczyn | 9,778 | 41.2 |
| Justin Di Ciano | 9,669 | 40.7 |
| Morley Kells | 2,725 | 11.5 |
| John Chiappetta | 1,245 | 5.2 |
| Rob Therrien | 339 | 1.4 |
| Total | 23,756 | 100 |
References
- ^ a b c d "Justin Di Ciano wins Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore". Toronto Star, October 27, 2014.
- ^ "OPP investigating Toronto councillor Justin Di Ciano". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Lancaster, John; Rieti, John (November 16, 2018). "2 Toronto city councillors charged with alleged campaign finance violations". CBC News. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ Pagliaro, Jennifer (November 16, 2018). "Etobicoke Councillors Grimes and Di Ciano charged with Elections Act offences over 2014 campaign expenses". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "Crown withdraws campaign finance charge against former city councillor Justin Di Ciano | CBC News".
- ^ "Court withdraws election spending charge against ex-Toronto councillor Di Ciano". thestar.com. February 24, 2020.
- ^ "Toronto election 2018: Ward 3 Etobicoke–Lakeshore". Global News.
- ^ "City of Toronto Official Results" (PDF).
- ^ "2010 election results: Councillor Ward 5". City of Toronto. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.