Charges have been laid against a man who volunteered for London city Councillor Paul VanMeerbergen's campaign and a candidate who ran against Councillor Maureen Cassidy.
The OPP's Anti-Rackets Branch announced on Wednesday that charges under the Municipal Elections Act have been laid against Barry Phillips, 56, and Randy Warden, 60. Phillips, who was a campaign volunteer for VanMeerbergen in the last municipal election, is charged with failing to register as a third-party advertiser. Warden, who ran against Cassidy in Ward 5, is charged with failing to identify himself on election campaign advertising.
The charges stem from an investigation into allegations of third party advertising violations in the 2018 London municipal election. The investigation was launched in the wake of what have been called smear websites that took aim at Cassidy, as well as Virginia Ridley, the incumbent in Ward 10 who lost her seat on council to VanMeerbergen.
The websites, created by Blackridge Strategy, attacked Cassidy and Ridley’s voting records on council and took aim at their personal lives. Ridley, in particular, was accused of child abuse for taking her son to a budget debate in 2016. Attacks against Cassidy called her integrity into question over her affair with then-mayor Matt Brown.
Phillips had admitted to hiring Blackridge to create the website that targeted Ridley, but claimed he did not agree to having it contain personal attacks. Warden denied knowing anything about the website that attacked Cassidy, but said he would take full responsibility for anything done by a member of his campaign team.
Both men are scheduled to appear in court on September 28.
