‘MAKES ME SICK’: Rival candidate alleges conflicts in Frances Nunziata's office
· Toronto Sun
A political rival in Ward 5 York South-Weston has filed an official complaint against Councillor Frances Nunziata, saying he’s “just floored” that the longtime politician employs a consultant tied both to a local developer and a ward business improvement area.
Daniel Di Giorgio, a Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee who is running for council, said beyond the fact that Marilyn McCrea appears to have professional conflicts, there’s the issue that Nunziata doesn’t pay her out of her regular staff budget, but through monthly consulting fees.
Visit livefromquarantine.club for more information.
“It’s not a huge secret that this woman has basically been following Frances Nunziata around for the better part of a year,” Di Giorgio told the Toronto Sun .
While developer Castlepoint Numa said McCrea no longer works for them, McCrea is listed as a director with the Weston Village BIA – despite the fact that a form from Nunziata’s office said McCrea lives in Grimsby and she appears to be active politically in that Niagara Region community.
Situation ‘so laughable,’ Di Giorgio says
The Toronto Sun reached out to Nunziata’s office with an emailed list of questions about Di Giorgio’s complaint, McCrea’s employment status, her duties and if her multiple roles pose a conflict of interest. Her office responded with a one-sentence statement Tuesday: “Marilyn has a contract with councillor (sic) to provide office support as the councillor is short-staffed.”
Contact information for McCrea could not be found and the BIA has yet to respond to questions from the Toronto Sun . The office of integrity commissioner Paul Muldoon did not respond to a request for a comment.
Asked whether a councillor’s employee can make submissions to city hall committees, as McCrea appears to have done on behalf of the Weston Village BIA, the City of Toronto pointed to the municipal code, which appears to allow it. In one example, McCrea is listed as having sent a letter from the BIA – endorsing since-reworked plans for the Weston Lions Arena – to Mayor Olivia Chow’s executive committee last fall.
“You cannot possibly submit correspondence on behalf of the BIA on issues where you’re consulting with the councillor’s office at the same time and not declare a conflict,” Di Giorgio said.
“Like, the whole thing is so laughable. It just makes me sick.”
Name pulled off websites
Expenses filed for Nunziata’s office showed $44,774.40, including taxes, was spent on McCrea’s services last year, which the Toronto Sun reported last month . Nunziata was initially billed $4,000 a month, which grew to $5,000 per month by the end of the year.
A form filed with city hall shows Nunziata has paid McCrea at least once this year, for January and February.
Meanwhile, McCrea is listed as the community liaison for both Castlepoint Numa’s Weston Park and 1800 Weston development projects, which are steps apart near Lawrence Ave. and Weston Rd. in Nunziata’s ward.
Farzi Jalali, a vice-president with Castlepoint Numa, said in an email that McCrea has not worked as a consultant for the developer since 2024 and her name “will be removed shortly” from any project websites. Her name was on the websites for both projects before the Toronto Sun contacted the developer this week.
While councillors’ expenses for 2025 were considered at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting , neither McCrea’s consulting fees nor any other individual office purchase was discussed by the committee members.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
Nunziata yet to decide on another run for office
Nunziata, the longtime city council Speaker, has been in municipal politics since 1988 – long before amalgamation. She has been a Toronto city councillor since 1997.
She was the subject of an integrity complaint stemming from the last municipal election. Muldoon’s predecessor found that her office misused a list of constituent emails in the 2022 campaign, for which Nunziata formally apologized at a council meeting in 2024.
Di Giorgio told the Toronto Sun he’s a lifelong resident of the ward and is running for council because he’s “disappointed” with the leadership of Nunziata and Chow. Spending at city hall is “out of control,” he said, and there’s a “huge lack of trust in leadership.”
It’s unclear if he’ll be running against Nunziata in the municipal election in October as her office told the Toronto Sun she’s yet to decide if she wants to serve another term. Di Giorgio said he suspects the integrity commissioner will “likely defer” a decision on his complaint until after the vote.
“As far as I’m concerned, she’s toast as a candidate no matter what,” Di Giorgio said. “This is more so just, this transpired, it’s offside and I wasn’t about to just let it go.”