Former councillor accused of sex assault running again in Brampton after claiming compliant withdrawn

Gurpreet Singh Dhillon is running again for his old seat on Brampton City Council in this year’s municipal election after saying allegations of sexual assault against him have been withdrawn – a claim the city says it can’t confirm.

Dhillon, a two-time Brampton councillor for Wards 9 and 10, lost his seat in the 2024 municipal election and was the only incumbent not re-elected in Brampton following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment of a female staffer while on a City of Brampton trade mission to Turkey in 2019.

He has always denied the allegations against him, which were reported to Peel Regional Police and led to condemnation by fellow councillors. Dhillon was also the target of protests following the sexual assault and harassment allegations.

The former councillor said last month that accusations against him were withdrawn in a letter he says retracts the claims, while the city’s integrity commissioner says she was unable to verify the letter actually came from the complainant.

Dhillon has already announced plans to run for re-election, and has now officially entered the race, according to the city’s election website. The other confirmed candidates are Satpaul Singh Johal, who served as vice-chair for the Peel District School Board, and lawyer Sukhman Sangha.

Wards 9 and 10’s current councillor is Gurpartap Singh Toor, who has not confirmed to INsauga.com if he plans to seek re-election and was on the city’s list of confirmed candidates as of Thursday afternoon.

Multiple requests for comment from Dhillon have not been returned, and visiting his election website takes you to a place-holder page.

Dhillon has called for a report which held up the allegations to be removed online, but Brampton’s integrity commissioner Muneeza Sheikh says she’s “exhausted all of my own means to try and make a contact with the complainant.”

The letter, which Dhillon says is “undeniable proof” of his innocence, was first sent to members of council in September in 2023 and included the name of the accuser. It was not sent to the integrity commissioner’s office, and “did not say that she was with the drawing the complaint from my office, specifically,” Sheikh said.

But a second copy of the letter was sent by Dhillon’s legal team in November of that same year, this time with the name of the complainant “redacted,” the integrity commissioner says.

The integrity commissioner says she is unable to alter or expunge the report “absent confirmation from the complainant herself or counsel for the complainant that there was indeed an error, or that she renegs on the allegations.”

Sheikh disclosed she has also been served a legal notice by Dhillon’s lawyer, and has also “commenced (her) own litigation against Mr. Dhillon.”

A whistleblower made allegations that Dhillon settled a $60,000 sexual assault settlement using city funds, with Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calling the payments “hush money.” The integrity commissioner told council she was not privy to any details on whether there had been any “settlement between the complainant or Mr. Dhillon.”

Dhillon said he was planning legal action against Brown, and issued a statement calling the claims “politically motivated.”

In a recent post on social media, he claimed he is “being targeted” by the city solicitor, the integrity commissioner and city council out of fear that “I will expose their corruption.”