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Opening comments: More at the end.
Finally some of the claims that sparked the Judicial Inquiry!
What is this Hazel McCallion wanted the Inquiry- "Dobkin had been encouraged by ... Hazel McCallion to hold the inquiry."?
And this shows someones true political colours - "Hazel McCallion announced in 1975 that she was changing her mind and wouldn't seek the Liberal Party".
To the 1975 Mississauga Judicial Inquiry - Municipal Investigation web-page.
To the main Judicial Inquiry page - to the Hazel McCallion page.
Mississauga News - Community Guide - 1975 - By John Stewart, jstewart@mississauga.net
The inquiry that wasn't
An investigation into alleged city hail corruption raised more questions than it answered
page 19
It was to be the inquiry which finally laid to rest all of the seamy rumors about Mississauga politics. But it turned out to be an exercise in frustration which elucidated few events and tarnished many reputations. On April 28,1975, Mississauga Mayor Martin Dobkin - halfway through his three-year term of office - announced at a council meeting that he had received several "serious and startling allegations of malfeasance in the conduct of city business, including allegations of bribery, influence peddling, obstruction of justice, assault, and the unlawful acceptance of benefits.''
Councillor Bud Gregory told the meeting the inquiry was "very welcome" because it would unveil the people who'd made allegations.
Councillor Hazel McCallion said it was necessary to put the incessant rumors to rest once and for all. Mayor Dobkin said he found it "extremely distasteful" to call the inquiry, but claimed it was his public
page 20
The Mississauga News Community Guide duty to see the charges were properly investigated.
Only two days later, the council which had unanimously endorsed the inquiry, was already wracked with second thoughts.
The calling of the inquiry sparked a maelstrom of legal entanglements, political intrigues, and public confusion unequalled in the city's history.
It was the time of confrontation politics at city hall. Dr. Martin Dobkin, the brash family physician who didn't trust high-density development, or politicians for that matter, had shocked the city with his upset win over incumbent Mayor Chic Murray in late 1973.
Dr. Dobkin rode into city hall with a half-dozen new councillors in what was to be a fresh era of reform politics. Dobkin made no secret of his mistrust of the "cosy" relationship between local developers and the Conservative party majority on the previous council.
From the beginning, two of the holdovers from the previous administration, Bud Gregory and Ron Searle, were convinced the inquiry was an attempt by Dr. Dobkin to smear his predecessors. They were already concerned that senior staff at city hall was leaving in droves.
In the midst of the accusations and counter-accusations, Judge Ray Stortini was appointed to head the inquiry, with lawyer Noel Bates acting as counsel. Through the summer they gathered evidence for hearings in September.
Meanwhile, the legal challenges to the inquiry were mounting.
Chic Murray and his son James were leading the charge. One of the inquiry's nine allegations, based on information provided by Dobkin supporter Jan Davies, a local developer, suggested favors had been sought in return for consideration of his application.
Davies' allegations had already been investigated and dismissed by local police officials, but Davies reflected on the validity of that investigation in his complaints. Ontario Provincial Police Inspector Lou Pellissaro was called in to investigate further.
The inspector would later characterize Davies as a completely unreliable witness.
Before the incredibly complicated business was over, both inquiry supporters and detractors would have plenty of ammunition to support their positions.
Regional chairman Lou Parsons pulled a sensational move of his own in the midst of the confusion by producing an affidavit from Dr. Dobkin's former executive assistant, Gordon Watt. It stated that Dobkin had been encouraged by lawyers Joseph Pomerant, Edward Greenspan and Ward 9 Councillor Hazel McCallion to hold the inquiry.
Watt said Pomerant, who has since been disbarred for fraud, advised Dobkin that "even though there had not been sufficient evidence to warrant an inquiry, if such an inquiry were begun, something would be bound to turn up."
The news media were tipped off to the Watt bombshell coming at regional council by someone identifying himself as a Peel Regional policeman. That offset the Watt affidavit to some extent and confirmed in some minds that there were powerful forces at work to discredit the inquiry.
It was confirmed in the press that Brampton developer Arthur Armstrong had met with Ontario Treasurer Darcy McKeough to help Davies try to get the date of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing moved up, which was done. A bill for $25,000 was submitted to Davies, which he never paid.
page 21
In the midst of the carnage, former Mayor Murray announced he would try to rejoin council in a Ward 3 by-election, which he did by beating Frank Bean by 44 votes.
He also announced that he was suing Dobkin, McCallion, Pomerant, Davies and Bates for $900,000 for conspiracy to damage his reputation and his son's. His suit alleged the five had met regularly to conspire. A judge would later dismiss parts of the statement of claim, saying they "read more like a press release" than a legal action.
Ultimately, the Ontario Supreme Court struck down the inquiry, saying it lacked the specific allegations required. The newly created city did not have the right to investigate the previous town's activities.
But even that announcement could not be savored as a victory for those who claimed the inquiry was a political witch hunt all along. For here came Judge Stortini suggesting that despite the ruling, there were still serious matters which warranted further investigation. The Murrays promptly sued Stortini for contempt of court, but the action was thrown out.
The last hope for revealing the full dimensions of the allegations was the Murray's law suit. But it never came to trial. Over the years, the various defendants were dropped from the action.
page 22
Many of the allegations have been made public in dribs and drabs. Besides the original Davies accusations there were allegations that:
o A taxi licence issuer for the city rented a car from a licensee, bought gas there and sometimes got free car washes;
o Liquor was regularly delivered to city hall by a construction company;
o A recreation and parks employee was beaten by union staff for working too hard;
o Former hydro commissioner personally benefited from contracts awarded by the local commission;
o A councillor at the time the inquiry was called benefited from land dealings in north central Mississauga;
o A former town industrial commissioner had a trust account in his name where city moneys were deposited.
Ron Searle says now that the inquiry "made Mississauga a laughing stock." He rejects the suggestion that his skillful political use of the inquiry controversy was partially responsible for his 1976 victory over Dobkin in a four-way race for the mayor's job.
"What concerns me is that people who read about it in future will think, 'Who were those corrupt people who got away with something?' when they were totally innocent of any wrongdoing," says Searle.
Dr. Dobkin is equally convinced that he acted properly during the inquiry. He still practises in Mississauga, though he lives in Toronto.
Asked if the public will ever get the full story, Dobkin replies "probably never."
"How can you give the full story unless it's in a judicial setting?" asks Dobkin. That has already been ruled out.
The boxes of sealed files from the inquiry are the only physical vestiges left of the strange saga in the city's history. The Mississauga bank which is holding them would like to get rid of them, but nobody is sure who should have them.
When Hazel McCallion announced in 1975 that she was changing her mind and wouldn't seek the Liberal Party nomination in the Mississauga North provincial riding, she said the reason was the black cloud hanging over city hall because of the inquiry.
If McCallion was waiting for the inquiry to clear up the doubts, she must have been bitterly disappointed.
Perhaps the one thing that is clearest about the Mississauga judicial inquiry is that it raised a lot more questions than it answered.
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