As a councillor, Doug Ford improperly used his influence at city hall to benefit clients of his family business, a city watchdog has concluded.

Two and a half years after an investigation was first launched into the former Etobicoke North councillor and his brother Rob — the late ex-mayor — integrity commissioner Valerie Jepson found the surviving Ford broke council’s code of conduct.

The investigation stems from complaints by advocacy group Democracy Watch and two residents following reports first published by the Globe and Mail regarding Ford’s dealings with two Toronto businesses, R.R. Donnelley and Sons and Apollo Health and Beauty Care — both which had been clients of the Ford company Deco Labels and Tags.

“Councillor Ford took no steps to establish clear lines of separation between his responsibilities as a member of council and his duties as a principal of Deco,” Jepson found in her report to council published Thursday, finding Ford improperly “wore two hats.”

Both Doug Ford and Rob Ford, when he was alive, rigorously maintained no wrongdoing on their parts. Jepson recorded Doug Ford’s response that he believed he was at all times acting in the city’s interest in terms of cost savings and that he gained nothing by the interactions.

“He also says that he would have done the same thing for any business regardless of whether it was a client of Deco,” Jepson wrote.

Ford did not respond to a request for comment about the integrity commissioner’s findings.

“Even if I accept that Councillor Ford was motivated by advancing the greater good of the city or that his actions were no different than they would have been for another corporation, this does not absolve Councillor Ford from his duty not to use the influence of his office to his or Deco's private advantage,” Jepson wrote. “He failed to do so.”

Through records and recorded interviews or testimony, Jepson found Ford helped arrange meetings between Donnelley, a large printing company that had contracted work to Deco, and city staff as Donnelley looked to do business with the city in 2011.

At the same time, Donnelley officials toured Deco’s facilities in Etobicoke, which “refreshed the business relationship” between the two companies though it didn’t lead to an increase in contracted work, Jepson wrote.

When Donnelley later tried to pitch the city, the company’s representatives were surprised when staff told them city policy does not allow unsolicited quotes.

Also in 2011, the Fords directly intervened as Apollo — which was not operating in Doug Ford’s ward — tried to increase the amount of grant money it received through a city program while in the process of expanding its facilities.

Doug Ford assisted Apollo in arranging meetings with senior staff with that issue and others, including a sewage spill, often acting as the first point of contact for the business despite the fact it was not in his ward, Jepson found.

Ford later accepted an invitation to dinner and a tennis tournament as thanks for his assistance, which Jepson said broke council rules about councillors accepting gifts.

Last year, the lobbyist registrar found Apollo breached lobbying rules when that company invited Ford to the dinner and tournament.

The related investigation into Rob Ford was abandoned after his death this March, though his role in facilitating meetings between the two companies and the city is clearly noted in Jepson’s report.

Jepson recommended no sanctions against Doug Ford.

Though docked pay is a possible punishment under council rules, it does not apply to former members. Jepson could have recommended council issue a reprimand.

“While it may be within the authority of council to reprimand a former member, it is my view that imposing a reprimand on a person who is no longer a colleague of the council members responsible for issuing the reprimand would serve no purpose,” she wrote.

Jepson, who took over the role in September 2014, acknowledged the unusually drawn-out investigation, saying the reason it took so long is because she made investigations into current council member conduct a priority, amid a backlog of cases.

As a result, residents voted in the 2014 election, in which Ford was a mayoral candidate, without the results of the investigation.

“I think it took far too long but it is the correct ruling and great to have it out there that Doug Ford is clearly an unethical politician,” Democracy Watch’s Duff Conacher told the Star.

He said he disagrees with Jepson’s decision not to request council reprimand the former councillor.

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“Council should issue the strongest reprimand possible,” he said, noting the rules should also allow financial sanctions of former councillors.

Toronto lawyer Jonathan Schachter, who acted for each of the residents Ray Fredette and Jude MacDonald, said politicians should be forced to disclose their business interests. He agreed more serious penalties are required.

“It's worrying that, after nearly three years of investigating pursuant to her mandate, the integrity commissioner knows little more about (Ford’s) business affairs,” Schachter said in a statement. “What’s the point of an integrity commissioner if the politicians she’s investigating can simply ignore her and frustrate her efforts?”

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