Richmond Hill Regional and Local Councillor Carmine Perrelli has been advertising the giveaway of the free Richmond Hill Shop Local facemasks for the past several weeks.
Concerns
Why is the City of Richmond Hill Economic Development Office sending emails to Richmond Hill businesses promoting Perrelli's mask giveaway if this is not a City of Richmond Hill initiative?
Sheila Wang's article posted this morning mentions that:
The mask distribution event is “not a city initiative,” according to City Spokesperson.
The City Clerk in response to a resident stated: The face mask initiative is that of an individual Member of Council in their elected representative capacity. This is not a City initiative.
The Clerk also stated:
The collection of personal information by individual Members of Council as elected representatives rarely, if ever, is subject to Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)
Since the City is now promoting the mask giveaway via the City's Economic Development Office is it now a City initiative and any personal information entered on Perrelli's unsecure website is subject to MFIPPA?
If this was the case the Councillor's unsecure website would be in contravention of the Act and could be subject to a Privacy complaint.
At the Jan. 7 council meeting, Perrelli said the masks were paid by donated funds and cost "no tax dollars." Who donated the funds? Do the funds also cover the printing, postage and social media advertisements?
Is an elected official allowed to accept financial donations outside of the election period?