{"id":941901,"date":"2026-10-22T09:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/941901\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T09:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:32:12","slug":"in-bramptons-northeast-old-allegations-loom-over-the-race-for-regional-councillor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/941901\/","title":{"rendered":"In Brampton\u2019s Northeast, Old Allegations Loom Over the Race for Regional Councillor"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a dreary October evening in Springdale Village Centre, in the northeast of Brampton, the energy inside Gurpreet Singh Dhillon\u2019s campaign office was not what you\u2019d expect from an embattled former councillor attempting to take back his seat. The room was animated: young volunteers sprawled across couches, and a small crowd of supporters chatted excitedly while others helped with campaign activities. At a table along the wall, a woman laid out hot chai and snacks.<\/p>\n

It was the atmosphere of a confident campaign in full swing. Beyond the office walls, however, Dhillon\u2019s return to the race in Brampton Wards 9 and 10 has been overshadowed by a controversy that has followed him the past four years.<\/p>\n

From 2014 to 2022, Dhillon served as city councillor, and then regional councillor, for Wards 9 and 10 at the northeastern edge of Brampton (the city\u2019s councillors, who are elected to either city council or regional council, represent two wards at a time). But in the final year of his tenure, Dhillon was subject to an Integrity Commissioner investigation, following allegations of sexual assault brought forward by a Brampton business owner after the two attended a 2019 City trade mission to Turkey. Dhillon has denied these allegations; they have not been proven in court, and no criminal charges were ever laid. (The Integrity Commissioner told Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown in a 2019 email that Peel Regional Police told her they were not investigating due to \u201cjurisdictional issues.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"GurpreetGurpreet Singh Dhillon\u2019s campaign office on Bovaird Drive East, west of Torbram Road.<\/p>\n

At the time, the Integrity Commissioner concluded that Dhillon had breached several rules in the City\u2019s \u201cCode of Conduct for Members of Council,\u201d including those regarding harassment, discreditable conduct, failure to adhere to council\u2019s policies and procedures, and obstruction of her investigation. The then-incumbent councillor was suspended without pay for 90 days, and was asked to resign from his seat in a motion unanimously voted in by council. He refused; while he ran for a third term that same year, he lost by 227 votes to Gurpartap Singh Toor, the youngest regional councillor in Brampton\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

In the years since, reports have emerged that the complainant has withdrawn the allegation against Dhillon\u2014but the City refused Dhillon\u2019s request to remove the Integrity Commissioner\u2019s report from its website. Now, against the backdrop of that contention and resulting legal battles, Dhillon is once again seeking re-election, a decision that\u2019s garnered public scrutiny. And the incumbent, Toor, has chosen not to run for a second term, stepping away from politics to focus on his family.<\/p>\n

Normally, a former councillor would have some advantage running for an open seat they\u2019ve won twice before\u2014but with the allegations against Dhillon and the lack of clarity around where they now stand, the crowded regional council race in Brampton\u2019s Ward 9 and 10 could be anyone\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

From his vantage point as outgoing councillor for Wards 9 and 10, Toor says that while Dhillon is undoubtedly popular among some, his name \u201chas become very synonymous\u201d with the allegations.<\/p>\n

The most common reaction Toor has seen regarding the candidate\u2019s decision to run again has been surprise. \u201cOnce people make a decision of pushing somebody out of office, it\u2019s very rare that people will try to bring the same person back into the same office again,\u201d Toor says. \u201cThey had the choice to do that once, and they chose not to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dhillon, for his part, says he is running again because residents have asked him to return after what he describes as a failure of leadership over the past four years. He points to years of property tax increases, allegations of fiscal mismanagement at city hall, and concerns that councillors are not sufficiently accessible to residents. He characterizes his campaign as offering a return to a stronger record of representation.<\/p>\n

When asked about the allegations of sexual misconduct, Dhillon says, \u201cWe\u2019ve cleared all that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the situation remains largely unresolved. In 2023, the complainant\u2019s lawyer reportedly sent a letter to Brampton city council in which the complainant withdrew her allegations against Dhillon. Subsequently, Dhillon sought to have the Integrity Commissioner\u2019s report about the allegations expunged from the city\u2019s website. But the Integrity Commissioner said that power lies with city council, according to reporting from local publication The Pointer<\/a>. The Integrity Commissioner then also told council she had been unable to authenticate that the withdrawal letter did, in fact, come from the complainant, and that she hadn\u2019t been able to reach the complainant for over two years. (Reporting<\/a> from 2020 also indicates that the Integrity Commissioner heard an audio recording of the alleged assault which the complainant took part way through the incident.) \u00a0The punitive report against Dhillon remains online.<\/p>\n

Dhillon, and subsequent reporting by The Pointer, says the complainant\u2019s lawyer has verified the authenticity of the letter.The Pointer said in early October that they were able to find the woman \u201cin minutes,\u201d and even verified her workplace (though it does not appear that they approached her to verify the contents of the letter, and reporting by the Brampton Guardian<\/a> indicates the woman signed a nondisclosure agreement). The City did not respond to The Local\u2019s multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The environment at city hall surrounding these allegations has been rife with tension and mudslinging. Dhillon characterizes the City as choosing \u201cpolitics over truth.\u201d According to The Pointer, Dhillon was known to be an opponent of Mayor Brown, and the sitting Integrity Commissioner was hired by Brown, prompting questions about the possibility of a conflict of interest. Dhillon says he has commenced legal action, seeking $1 for general damages, and $50,000 for aggravated damages, as well as the legal costs for the action.<\/p>\n

Brown, in turn, has accused Dhillon of paying \u201chush money\u201d to settle the case: in 2020, the complainant filed a $2.1-million dollar lawsuit against Dhillon and the City, which was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, according to reporting by the Brampton Guardian. City hall staff have refuted the claim that this settlement involved \u201chush money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CountrysideCountryside Drive demarcates the northern reach of Wards 8 and 9, separating Brampton\u2019s residential blocks from the fields of Caledon.<\/p>\n

Despite the ongoing disparities between the City\u2019s account of events and his own, Dhillon believes residents know his character. \u201cPeople respect me. They respect my family\u2026They know I\u2019m a family man,\u201d he says. He describes the ward as needing someone who is available to serve the people at a moment\u2019s notice. \u201cPeople come with their problems, sit in my living room every day. We\u2019ve never said no,\u201d says Dhillon.<\/p>\n

Dhillon is campaigning on a return to \u201cproven leadership,\u201d drawing heavily on his previous time on council, with public safety at the centre of his platform. One of his key priorities is expanding police presence in Brampton\u2019s east end, building on his motion from 2021 for a satellite police station. \u201cOur goal was to expand that into a full police division,\u201d says Dhillon. He also calls for greater affordability, including a property tax freeze. \u201cWhat I see is people struggling financially. The property tax burden is suffocating people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ravi Sohal, a part-time real estate agent and IT worker who has lived in Ward 10 for the past nine years, says that looking at the landscape of candidates in his ward elicits \u201cvery mixed feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not an effective leader [among] all these running candidates,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Dhillon\u2019s controversial past that Sohal finds off-putting. Like many other candidates, Dhillon is campaigning on a promise of freezing taxes, something beyond the power of any single councillor. Taxes have steadily gone up in Brampton every year between 2022 and 2025, though not this past year. \u201cFor two terms, they were in power, and they were not able to do anything,\u201d says Sohal, referring to the sitting councillors who saw the rates rise under their mandate, and are now campaigning to freeze them. \u201cDo you guys think that being elected as a regional councillor gives you the individual power that you can make that change?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sohal, the promises raise a broader, age-old question about accountability: whether candidates like Dhillon are offering realistic solutions or making commitments that are beyond their individual control. In communities rich with newer immigrants who may not be as familiar with municipal politics, this campaign messaging can feel particularly troubling (immigrants make up roughly 60 percent of the populace, with a particularly large South Asian population spanning generations). He\u2019d much rather see the candidates tackle construction on local streets and expand commercial zoning and employment opportunities\u2014issues within the ward that residents want addressed by their elected officials.<\/p>\n

The race to lead Brampton\u2019s Wards 9 and 10 is shaping up, in some ways, as a contest between familiarity and change. Dhillon, with his mixed name recognition and history, is facing competitors who have spent months building their own campaigns and connections in the community.<\/p>\n

Less than a kilometre away from Dhillon\u2019s campaign office is the election headquarters of 28-year-old Sukhman Sangha, who is offering voters a different proposition: a new generation of leadership shaped by both government and private-sector experience. He describes being born and raised in Brampton, living in Wards 9 and 10 his entire life. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m a success story, [and] it\u2019s because of [this] city,\u201d he says. In his career, Sangha has worked as a lawyer specializing in corporate law, and as a policy advisor for the government of Ontario.<\/p>\n

He says that combination of local roots, legal training, and government experience gives him a different perspective on the issues facing the wards, compared to other candidates. He describes it as a forward-looking vision for city hall. \u201cWe are advocating on a positive platform. So I wouldn\u2019t even say we have a competitor,\u201d Sangha says.<\/p>\n

\"SukhmanSukhman Sangha\u2019s campaign office on Sunny Meadow Boulevard, north of Bovaird Drive East.<\/p>\n

Toor supports Sangha, and says he sees a little bit of himself in the young candidate. \u201cI think a new, fresher face, especially a more educated face, makes that difference,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

On social media, Sangha has posted about receiving endorsements from a number of Brampton-born-and-raised figures, including former Toronto Raptors player A.J. Lawson and former Toronto FC player Shaan Hundal. The endorsements add another distinctly local element to his campaign, with Sangha emphasizing support from people who, like him, have built their careers from Brampton. \u201cI know endorsements don\u2019t create votes, but the type of endorsements I have pursued, it\u2019s very purposeful,\u201d says Sangha. \u201cAll these guys are rooted in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

With nine hopefuls<\/a> fighting for the seat\u2014including an outgoing Peel District School Board trustee, a driving instructor, and a self-described entrepreneur\u2014the race for Wards 9 and 10 is one of the most crowded in the city.<\/p>\n

\"LawnLawn signs in Ward 9.<\/p>\n

Michael Dancy is a familiar name to some Brampton voters, particularly those who\u2019ve happened upon his significant social media presence. This is his second run for regional councillor\u2014he previously campaigned for the role in Wards 7 and 8 in 2022, and has since built a following on YouTube and TikTok (between the two platforms, he has 176,000 subscribers) making a mix of videos on Brampton issues like traffic and safety, alongside content about cars and technology.<\/p>\n

This election, Dancy has turned his video coverage to politics, making a video with Dhillon in which he says, \u201cIf you\u2019re not going to vote for me, vote for this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a right royal thorn in the side. Whenever I see something that annoys me, I make a video about it, and the video gets millions of views, and it sometimes garners attention,\u201d says Dancy. He claims one of his videos prompted the installation of a larger stop sign in an area where he\u2019d raised concerns about road safety. If elected, he hopes to continue to use his online platform to increase transparency at city hall by documenting council business, explaining what\u2019s happening behind the scenes, and helping residents understand how their tax dollars are being spent. He\u2019s also campaigning on traffic and road safety, addressing infrastructure delays, furthering medium-density housing options, and supporting co-op housing models.<\/p>\n

In just a handful of days, the ward will choose Toor\u2019s successor from a long list of contenders. The last time there was a general election, turnout in the city was historically low, at only 24.5 percent. This time around, Toor worries that the controversy around Dhillon\u2019s decision to run again will distract an already disengaged populace of residents from voting on actual campaign issues\u2014or deter them from voting at all. Some people, he fears, find it easier to shut out the noise than sift through it for the messages that resonate with them. But if you don\u2019t vote at all, he argues, you may as well be voting for the candidate you don\u2019t want to win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a dreary October evening in Springdale Village Centre, in the northeast of Brampton, the energy inside Gurpreet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48,311578],"class_list":["post-941901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vote-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}