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use of city letterhead to solicit donations for his football charity, which she found breached the city���s code of conduct, sparked the chain of events that put his job in jeopardy. Council ordered Ford to pay back just over $3,000 in donations, but when Leiper followed up in February 2012 and found he had not yet complied, the new council overturned its previous decision. But Ford���s decision to speak and vote on the matter was challenged by Toronto voter Paul Magder, who brought a lawsuit seeking Ford���s removal from office. In November 2012, Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland decided against Ford and ordered him out of the job, but that decision was overturned by the Divisional Court in January. ���We like to say in the accountability sphere that anything that raises the profile is good,��� says Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin, who took on the integrity commissioner job on an interim basis between Mullan���s retirement and Leiper���s appointment. ���It���s really been at the centre of things, although it has spiralled well out of her jurisdiction.��� Leiper grins wryly when the case comes up. ���While it is important to make sure that accurate information about what the office is out in the public domain, I also exercise a significant amount of restraint on specific cases . . . it���s a key value of how to do the job in my view. It���s foundational, so no, it���s not hard to restrain myself,��� she explains, emphasizing fairness is her priority. ���The same rules apply to everybody. I just take the complaints as they come, I apply the protocol, and my personal views are highly and totally irrelevant. In a city this size, there will be people who don���t understand the office, people who do understand, people who value it, people who don���t value it, and people who don���t care. That���s just the nature of public service in a large community.��� Criminal lawyer Nadia Liva, who practises in association with Leiper at the 15 Bedford Road Law Chambers, says such a response is typical of Leiper. ���She���s so careful, she���s the perfect integrity commissioner. Criminal lawyers are known for their gossiping, but I���ve never been able to get anything out of Janet. None of us ever know what���s going on because she���s doing her job properly,��� Liva laments. Sossin promised Leiper a ���lively and eye-opening��� experience when she took over from him, but says the results of the 2010 election made that an understatement. ���This particular session has been one of the most challenging in terms of the fractiousness of council, and the sense of tension between and among councillors on a whole range of issues. It creates an atmosphere where ntitled-2 1 you need to have an honest broker, where councillors can go for good, sound, principled advice,��� says Sossin. ���If you have a thin skin and let yourself get caught up, then you���re not fulfilling your function. It���s to Janet���s credit that she has risen above the fray . . . she brings the type of credibility very few people can sustain.��� Clayton Ruby, the Toronto lawyer who acted for Magder in the conflict of interest suit, is even more generous ��� A Noticeable Difference TORONTO I BARRIE I HAMILTON 1-866-685-3311 I www.mcleishorlando.com www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m March 2013 29 13-02-12 4:04 PM