Four Election Act charges laid against Woolwich Coun. Scott Hahn have been withdrawn.
Hahn was elected to the township council in 2014.
He has admitted that during that election period, he never disclosed that his relatives had donated $2,800 signs and brochures to his campaign.
Waterloo Region’s elections committee declined to lay charges against Hahn. The case ended up in court through the efforts of private citizen Alan Marshall, who was also behind the complaint that led to Mayor Sandy Shantz being stripped of her power for a period of time over an issue with her post-election filings.
In Kitchener court Wednesday, the Crown said that while Marshall should be “saluted” for bringing the issue to the court’s attention, but ultimately there was not enough public interest in the issue to prosecute the case.
A justice of the peace agreed with the Crown's case, withdrawing the charges.
Speaking to CTV Kitchener after that decision, Marshall said that he was disappointed in the outcome, as he was concerned it opened the door to Woolwich councillors doing the same thing in the future.
Hahn has said that he didn’t realize he was legally required to declare the donations, and said he won’t make the same mistake if he runs for office again.
He was not present for Wednesday’s court proceedings.
With reporting by Abigail Bimman
