Philip Alves

Former mayor Michael DiBiase faces 27 charges stemming from an audit into his 2006 municipal election campaign books. The audit by Ken Froese and Glen Davison uncovered several apparent contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act in DiBiase’s campaign records, including overspending his $120,419 campaign limit by $2,712 and accepting ineligible contributions.

Councillor Bernie DiVona’s political fate is now in the hands of the city’s independent prosecutor. At a special meeting Tuesday, DiVona’s colleagues heard advice from Timothy Wilkin that DiVona should be charged for apparent contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act uncovered in an audit of his 2006 campaign books. Council agreed to retain Wilkin to pursue charges against DiVona.

The tally so far: nearly three-quarters of a million a dollars. That’s how much the city has paid, as of March 31, for audits of the 2006 campaign books of four Vaughan political heavyweights and related legal fees.

Vaughan’s city councillors are looking for outside legal advice on what to do with a damaging audit into the 2006 campaign books of one of their own. Councillor Bernie DiVona, who resigned his post as budget committee chair last month after the audit was released, may find himself in the same boat as Mayor Linda Jackson.

Mayor Linda Jackson faces potential expulsion from office and her husband, Mario Campese, may be hit with thousands of dollars in fines. The pair has been served with dozens of charges stemming from a court-ordered audit of Jackson’s 2006 campaign books.

Councillor Bernie DiVona resigned his post as Vaughan’s budget chief prior to a Monday evening committee meeting. The move comes on the heels of a damaging audit report delving into his 2006 campaign finances, released last week. DiVona may have used thousands of dollars from his 2006 election funds to pay for repairs to the roof of his home, the audit uncovered.

Vaughan’s budget chief quit the post prior to an evening council meeting April 27. The announcement of Councillor Bernie DiVona’s resignation, made by deputy city clerk Sybil Fernandes, comes on the heels of a damaging audit report delving into his 2006 campaign finances, released last week.

Council has given the go ahead to special prosecutor Timothy Wilkin to pursue charges against Mario Campese, Mayor Linda Jackson’s husband and 2006 campaign manager.

Vaughan city councillors are pleased with a recent court decision that cleared them of wrongdoing and bias against Mayor Linda Jackson. Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers’ ruling, released last week, dismissed Jackson’s claims that council’s unanimous call in June to pursue charges after a court-ordered audit of her campaign finances hinged on a series of illegal actions.

Mayor Linda Jackson says she’s disappointed with a recent court ruling in her battle with the city and is considering her options.

Mayor Linda Jackson says she will release a statement later today in response to a court ruling by Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers released last night.

Looking back at 2008, Vaughan Today’s editorial staff faced what turned out to be an easy decision when choosing Newsmaker of the Year. There were worthy runners up, but only nine could come out on top. Love them or hate them, you couldn’t avoid them in 2008.