An endorsement of incumbent Aurora mayor Tom Mrakas from local Members of Parliament Sandra Cobena and Costas Menegakis courted controversy over the weekend after their words were first published on House of Commons letterhead.

Both Members of Parliament say the use of the House of Commons letterhead was a “clerical error” and was rectified “within minutes” of Mrakas' initial post, with the House of Commons logo replaced with Mrakas' campaign graphic.

While the endorsement was re-issued without the official House of Commons graphic, social media posts have longevity and this one was quickly screen-grabbed by residents, who called for official action.

One such resident raising alarm bells was Leah Taylor Roy, who served MP for Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill until her defeat in the last Federal election by Menegakis, and remains the party's local candidate of record.

“This is a violation of the House of Commons Members bylaws,” she said in a Facebook post. “MPs may endorse candidates personally, but not in their roles as MPs, nor can they use any House of Commons resources, including stationary or any other resources from their office.”

Taylor Roy, who has endorsed Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo in Aurora's Mayoral race, said she “trusted” the municipal integrity commissioner would be looking into the matter.

“It was a clerical administrative error from our staffers and it was rectified within minutes,” said Newmarket-Aurora MP Cobena. “Somebody took a screen shot, clearly, and has been pushing it. There's literally nothing else to it.”

“We inadvertently used the logo,” added Menegakis. “We made a mistake, so we fixed it right away over three minutes, and it's over.”

Cobena noted that their endorsement of Mayor Mrakas was in their capacity as “residents” – “nothing official, which is why everything was removed. It should have never gone out. Everything was removed within minutes, and the proper one is out now.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter