- The Compliance Audit Committee approved audits for three 2022 municipal election candidates’ campaign finances: Former Mayor Justin Altmann, Ward 4 candidate Keith Singer, and Ward 1 candidate Juliette Deonarain.
- Mr. Singer repeated his past reasoning for not filing a campaign finance return: his failure to disclose his finances will disallow him from running in the 2026 election and remove any temptation to do so.
- Singer also cited a desire to protect his donors from harassment by keeping them anonymous.
- Juliet Deonarain, who breached the Municipal Elections Act by accepting donations from corporations, stated that it was her first time running for office and she was not fully aware of the rules.
- Deonarain received two corporate donations of $1,200 as well as a $489.59 donation in kind in the form of campaign material discounts from another business.
- She apologized to the committee, saying that she had returned the corporate donations. However she did not have evidence of doing so on hand.
- Paul Greenhalgh, the audit request applicant, referenced an abundance of likely costly campaign materials put forward by the Altmann campaign. He highlighted the need to understand the former mayor’s donations, donors, and expenses to ensure all rules were followed.
- Altmann told the committee that his campaign was in full compliance with the rules and brought financials with him, saying he is already prepared to cooperate with an audit.
- Altmann also referenced an alleged history of intimidation and other harassment of him and his donors, mirroring Singer’s desire to keep donors anonymous.
- The former mayor provided an emotional defence of himself, his campaign, and his history in the Town, telling the Committee that he received $19,650 in over-$100 contributions from 16 donors and $245 via eight donations under $99.
- According to Altmann, his campaign spent approximately $19,711 resulting in a surplus of approximately $183, which he had on hand and was prepared to submit to the Town Clerk.
- While the Committee has appointed an auditor for each candidate, they have 15 days to file an appeal.
*Photo taken by Arnold Neufeldt-Fast
This is great news!!. Hopefully the Town has seen the last of Altmann (and his cohort Singer). Thank you to Mr. Greenhalgh for bringing this forward. I watched the proceedings on line. The lies that Altman and Singer told were astounding. IF they were harassed it was not from any ‘audit’ filings, or any thing that Mr Greenhalgh did. He simply asked for an audit to be provided as any reasonable resident would do. IF they were ‘harassed’ it was because they are liars and incapable of working with others. It is laughable that both Singer and Altmann maintain that they did not file returns because they did not want to run again. Simply do us all a favour and do not run. You broke the law too many times. Bye.