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<\/p>\nA former Brampton councillor has written to the city demanding that a report regarding an allegation of sexual misconduct be expunged, arguing it has been kept online to discredit him, years after the complainant appears to have withdrawn her claim.<\/p>\n
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Gurpreet Dhillon, who represented Wards 9 and 10 in the city from 2014 to 2022, was accused by an unnamed complainant of sexual assault and harassment after a trip with the city to Turkey in late 2019.<\/p>\n
A report from Brampton\u2019s integrity commissioner in 2020 included a transcript of the alleged incident and found Dhillon had breached the council\u2019s code of conduct. It recommended suspending his pay for 90 days \u2014 the maximum penalty.<\/p>\n
The complainant in the investigation, however, appears to have since withdrawn her allegation and said she regretted how the process had unfolded.<\/p>\n
According to an email from Dhillon obtained by Global News, a letter withdrawing the complaint was sent to the City of Brampton in 2023.<\/p>\n
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But the report that found he broke the code of conduct remains on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a lengthy message to the city\u2019s current legislators, Dhillon alleged the city solicitor, integrity commissioner and members of council had failed to remove the report in order to discredit him.<\/p>\n \u201cI am writing to you directly because it has become undeniable that the legal and administrative processes regarding the July 2020 Integrity Commissioner\u2019s (IC) report are being deliberately weaponized for political purposes,\u201d part of the message said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City Solicitor\u2019s Office and the IC have intentionally misled or delayed giving crucial information to Council.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the City of Brampton said the integrity commissioner is arms-length and that the city would \u201cnot be providing comment on the substance of the allegations referenced\u201d because they were not responsible for the report.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s integrity commissioner did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n John Mascarin, a lawyer and municipal expert, said it was a \u201cfascinating\u201d case of the split in responsibilities between integrity commissioners, councillors and the city itself.<\/p>\n The initial complaint came in early 2020, relating to a business trip in November 2019.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n According to the integrity commissioner report, the complainant, a business owner in the city, alleged that an incident occurred while Dhillon was in her hotel room. In her report, the integrity commissioner recommended the councillor\u2019s pay be suspended.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish to state that I am displeased that there is no avenue (at least insofar as it relates to my mandate and jurisdiction) that allows for Councillor Dhillon\u2019s immediate removal from city council,\u201d the integrity commissioner wrote at the time.<\/p>\n The report included a transcript of the alleged situation, which the integrity commissioner said she had heard a recording of.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n The investigation said the complainant had gone to Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who then spoke to the integrity commissioner.<\/p>\n The integrity commissioner also interviewed the former chair of the Brampton Board of Trade, who was on the trip and, according to the report, said he had been told about the incident when he was overseas.<\/p>\n Brampton\u2019s head of economic development was also interviewed, who was told about it after the trade mission. The integrity commissioner also said she had spoken to a lawyer in Turkey who \u201cassisted the Complainant in dealing with the incident\u201d in January 2020.<\/p>\n At the time<\/a>, Peel Regional Police said they\u2019d interviewed the complainant but determined they had no jurisdiction over what happened in Turkey.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n No charges were laid, and Dhillon vehemently denied the allegations.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tComplaint appears to be withdrawn\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n According to the email Dhillon recently sent to Brampton City Council, the complainant then contacted the city in 2023 to withdraw her complaint. The former councillor\u2019s email included a letter, with the signature redacted, in which the complainant appeared to retract the allegation she had made.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I understand that my initial accusation may have brought attention to certain issues, I now realise that my accusations were misguided,\u201d the letter, also seen by Global News, said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have come to realise that my memory of the events in question may have been clouded by a number of factors including emotional distress, misinformation and coercion from people who were not genuine with their intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n Global News contacted the lawyer who represented the unnamed complainant for comment. He said he wasn\u2019t able to contact her and therefore couldn\u2019t comment.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\")
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