Former Brampton Wards 9 and 10 City Coun. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon says he plans to run for reelection in the October 2026 municipal election.<\/p>\n
Brampton\u2019s integrity commissioner says her \u201chands remain tied\u201d and has been unable to confirm whether a letter allegedly withdrawing claims of sexual assault against a former city councillor actually came from the complainant.<\/p>\n
Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, the former city councillor for Wards 9 and 10 in Brampton, was the only incumbent member of council not reelected in the 2024 municipal election following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment of a female staffer while on a City of Brampton trade mission to Turkey in 2019.<\/p>\n
He has always denied the allegations against him, which were reported to Peel Regional Police. The former councillor was also the target of protests following the sexual assault and harassment allegations.<\/p>\n
And while Dhillon now says those allegations were \u201cformally withdrew\u201d in a letter sent to councillors some three years ago and that he plans to run again for Brampton City Council<\/a>, the city\u2019s integrity commissioner says she has been unable to contact the woman who made the original complaint or confirm the authenticity of the letter.<\/p>\n Dhillon has called for a report which held up the allegations to be removed online, but Brampton\u2019s integrity commissioner Muneeza Sheikh says she\u2019s \u201cexhausted all of my own means to try and make a contact with the complainant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am still not in any position to make a recommendation of any kind to members of council on that report,\u201d Sheikh told council on Wednesday. \u201cWhat I have is an underacted note, that is allegedly from the complainant, although this has never been confirmed to me by the complainant or her counsel \u2013 only by Council for Mr. Dhillon.\u201d<\/p>\n A judicial review of Sheikh\u2019s report was upheld in 2021.<\/p>\n The letter, which Dhillon says is \u201cundeniable proof\u201d of his innocence, was first sent to members of council in September in 2023 and included the name of the accuser. It was not sent to the integrity commissioner\u2019s office, and \u201cdid not say that she was with the drawing the complaint from my office, specifically,\u201d Sheikh said.<\/p>\n But a second copy of the letter was sent by Dhillon\u2019s legal team in November of that same year, this time with the name of the complainant \u201credacted,\u201d the integrity commissioner says.<\/p>\n She has not contacted by Dhillon until July of 2024, \u201cand at that time his counsel requested that I review my report or expunge my report, and relied on the same letter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sheikh said she has an ethical responsibility to investigate and update the report, but any and all attempts to contact the accuser through lawyers and previously-provided contact information have been unsuccessful. One lawyer for the accuser \u201chas not had any communication with the complainant for the better part of two years,\u201d Sheikh said.<\/p>\n She said she is unable to alter or expunge the report \u201cabsent confirmation from the complainant herself or counsel for the complainant that there was indeed an error, or that she renegs on the allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheikh disclosed she has also been served a legal notice by Dhillon\u2019s lawyer, and has also \u201ccommenced (her) own litigation against Mr. Dhillon.\u201d<\/p>\n