Court documents obtained Friday by CBC News reveal it was Justin Towndale, the incumbent candidate seeking a second term as mayor of Cornwall, Ont., who recently raised concerns about past campaign filings of his main rival, Sarah Good, sparking a process that came to involve the courts and threatened to jeopardize Good’s candidacy.
Earlier this week, the City of Cornwall publicly disclosed that someone recently raised concerns about Good, the one-term councillor who’s vying to become mayor of the eastern Ontario city of about 47,000 people.
On Aug. 21 — the last day candidates could file their nomination papers and the day after Good filed hers — somebody alerted the city that back in March 2023, Good did not include an auditor’s report when she submitted financial documents related to her successful 2022 run for one of Cornwall’s 10 regular council seats.
Under Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act, that could have made her ineligible to run in this year’s election.
An affidavit sworn earlier this week by Cornwall’s current municipal elections lead, Denise Labelle-Gélinas, stated that Towndale told her on Aug. 21 that he had obtained information indicating Good received contributions in excess of $10,000 during the 2022 municipal election, and that she had not filed an auditor’s report.
Labelle-Gélinas had already certified Good’s nomination.
“Mr. Towndale informed me that he had been in possession of this information since before August 21, 2026, but did not previously raise any concerns. It is unknown to me exactly when Mr. Towndale first became aware of the matter,” Labelle-Gélinas wrote.
“At the time, I informed Mr. Towndale in response that any concern regarding a candidate’s campaign finance filings should have been brought to the city clerk’s attention at the relevant time following the 2022 municipal election. Nevertheless, Mr. Towndale’s inquiry prompted me to review Ms. Good’s file from the 2022 municipal election.”
Cornwall mayoral candidate Sarah Good. (Sarah Good/Facebook)
The city sought a local Superior Court judge’s advice on whether Good did indeed have to provide an auditor’s report, and whether the penalties spelled out in the act should apply to her.
“A timely answer to this question could not be more critical,” John Pappas, a lawyer for the city, told the courtroom as the hearing got underway Friday afternoon.
Later that afternoon, Justice Julie Bergeron determined no default had occurred, so Good’s candidacy remains valid.
Bergeron expressed concern that the city had waited so long to ask the court for a decision, given that the concerns were first raised more than a month ago.
Towndale responds
In a statement released Friday evening, Towndale said the court proceedings came as a shock to him and that he did not act maliciously in bringing up the past filing, as Good has suggested.
“I never intended for us to get to this point,” his statement read. “I asked a question that had been asked of me. When I was presented with the information, I had two choices: Ignore it entirely, or get an answer. It’s easy to look back and think that I should have ignored it. I obviously chose the latter because that’s who I am. That’s how I was raised. To get to the answer.”
Towndale said he first learned about the lack of an auditor’s report, from others, in mid-to-late August. He considered raising it, but decided not to, after learning that there was a prescribed timeframe for doing so (which had long since past).
“The day Ms. Good filed, I received follow-ups from some of the same individuals. So, because I wasn’t 100 per cent sure, I decided to seek confirmation as soon as city hall opened the next day. I did not want this issue to go beyond nomination day on Aug. 24 … and create further issues.
“I realized if I did ask the clerk, this could result in major consequences not only for the city, Ms. Good … and also negatively affect myself for asking this question. But after careful consideration, and more individuals informing me of this, I had to do what I felt was right. I could have had someone else ask the clerk the question, in order to leave my name out of it, but ultimately, I knew I had to take responsibility as mayor, and ask myself.”
Towndale then learned this week the city would be pursuing the matter in court, he said.
“To be clear, I did not file a complaint. There is no formal complaint. I never put anything in writing or submitted anything to that effect. My goal was to get a clear answer that I could confidently provide to people who were not to do so themselves.
“It’s also easy to look at my actions and think that they were malicious. They were not. Nothing good comes out of malicious actions against an opponent. These sorts of actions only backfire on the individual who uses them….
“I like Ms. Good as a person and I like her as a councilor. I have nothing bad to say about her. Believe it or not, I agree with the [court’s decision Friday].”
Towndale concluded by wishing Good all the best in the campaign.
Two other candidates, Art Levert and Nicole Spahich, are also in the race to become Cornwall’s next mayor.
Voting in the election begins online on Oct. 12. Election day is Oct. 26.